Artemis 2 is not a European triumph
The mission is over. Three Americans and one Canadian flew to the Moon and back for the first time in over half a century. As the dust settles, Europe’s place in this moment is unlikely to ever amount to much more than a footnote. Is this a strategic failure by the European Space Agency, the cruel reality of partnership, or just bad luck?
Following the splashdown of the Artemis 2 mission, several European companies and institutions that helped make the mission possible shared triumphant mission-accomplished messages on social media and in press releases. Mission Commander Reid Wiseman even thanked the “ESA Airbus team” and “our friends in the Netherlands and Germany” during the final phase of the crew’s journey. Yet the headlines and discussion that followed told a clear story. Outside of Europe, the continent’s involvement in the most significant human spaceflight in decades barely registered.
While there are many reasons for this, a significant contributor could be t…
