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by Gravityloss 645 days ago
It's not so direct though. There is a huge technological factor in it. France didn't have coal. It developed tremendous nuclear capacity. From trade perspective Finland was basically an island separated by impassable ice for some part of the year. Finland developed ice breakers. Europe developed communication satellites but USA wouldn't launch them as they competed with US satellites. So Europe developed Ariane launchers.

Europe has a huge technological base and has the capability to affect its own destiny.
1 comments
holoduke 645 days ago
Europe is too expensive. Your rocket example is a prime example.
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Gravityloss 645 days ago
Ariane is expensive now. But that wasn't the case for decades. Everything wasn't static in the eighties or nineties and won't be from here to eternity either. American rockets were very expensive as well.

As we speak, companies like Rocket Factory Augsburg are developing cheap access to orbit.

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