Shakespear in space

As the US Space Shuttle programme draws to a close and NASA squabbles with Obama over how best to replace it - could America’s reign of supremacy in space be over? As dangerous as it is to write-off a nation with the resources and experience of the US, it does seem as though the major players are menacingly shuffling power like the characters in a Shakespearean play.

As the US space effort is hampered by in-fighting over the Constellation programme - a mooted rocket and capsule to get astronauts back to the moon - European Space Agency boss Jean-Jacques Dordain has exclaimed that 2011 will see no less than a revolution for European space.

"By the end of 2011, ESA will not look like it does today. It is a revolution for Europe," declared Dordain. Chest beating of the most flamboyant kind - but is it just empty rhetoric? After all, however pure his intensions may be, the head of the ESA will certainly not be immune to political pressures.

Well, time will tell, but Dordain certainly has the kit to back up his bravado. A brand spanking new rocket - named Vega - designed in Europe for small payloads. Along with the Ariane 5 rocket and that most enduring of workhorses - Soyuz, Vega will give the ESA greater flexibility for its scientific payloads and widen the operational menu for Arianespace, a joint company that is already the world's biggest launcher of commercial satellites.

Other highlights in ESA's year include the launch of its second robot freighter, named the Johannes Kepler, to the International Space Station. The first two operational satellites in Europe's Galileo system, a rival to the US Global Positioning System (GPS), are also scheduled for launch in August-September. And that isn’t the end of it - clearly Europe is no flash in the pan when it comes to space research and exploration - on p7 we explore the options the ESA could take when deciding how to spend €700m on its next large mission.

So it is clear that Prince Europe is making a move for King America’s space crown. But it would seem that there is a twist to this melodrama - for an old adversary has been waiting in the wings, biding its time. Thanks to a joint statement signed with the UK at the end of last month - Russia has been met with the gasps and muted applause of the audience as it enters stage left.

The UK- Russia year of space 2011 will see the two nations share expertise, knowledge and innovation in space science. A betrayal of Hamlet like proportions in the eyes of the US perhaps - yet undoubtedly good news for UK space science.

Now of course my little metaphor is simplistic, but there is perhaps something to take from it. The political machinations associated with space exploration, and all the publicity that is it attracts, can distract from what it is really about - Science and discovery, and all the many wonderful things they can give to humanity.

As the next space superpower waits to emerge - politically nations may stand to lose face, but the reality for science can only be positive. As new technologies are developed to steal a march in this new space race who knows what humanities boundaries will be, and what these technologies could find alternative homes?