Dutch 'Lack Vision, Courage'

AMSTERDAM—The Dutch space program, once a leader in scientific research on many fronts, has been weakened to the point of ineffectiveness, according to scientists and aerospace industry officials. The chief cause, they say, is a reluctance by the government to adopt a long-range plan and commit the resources necessary to achieve it. "The Dutch government lacks vision and courage," said Karel Wakker, professor of space technology at the Technical University in Delft. "In most European countries, governments stimulate their space programs on a large scale. The Dutch government, however, is carrying out a policy characterized by insufficient budgets, dispersed over too many projects." Wakker and others argue that the government needs to play a more active role in the European Space Agency (ESA). In addition, they note, responsibility for the country's space program is splintered among several ministries, including economic affairs, transportation, health and defense. "The problem is that each department is waiting for the decisions of the other," said Wakker. "None of them makes a decision with any degree of scope. The outcome is that the Netherlands takes part in many ESA projects, but not beyond the 4.5 to 5 percent that corresponds to Holland's share of the total gross national product of the ESA countries." The Dutch Advisory Council for Science Policy holds a similar view. "There is no political will in government to take a substantial part in big European space projects," said Coen Kleisen, acting secretary for the council. "Many departments don't want to pay for them." In recent months the government has increased its ESA contribution after acknowledging that its space budget had been growing at a slower rate than has the ESA budget. But its promise to raise its annual contribution from about 120 million guilders ($60 million) in 1986 to 187 million guilders by 1990 is seen as too little, too late. "With only 187 million the Netherlands will keep lagging behind very seriously in European cooperation," said N. de Boer of the Dutch Institute for Aerospace Technology in Deift. The institute advises and coordinates space projects for the Dutch government. Added Wakker, "it should to be in the range of 300 mlllion guilders." Many observers see the current program as penny-wise and poundfoolish. Fokker Space & Systems received a contract earlier this year from ESA to help build the stabilizing and steering system for the agency's Infrared Space Observatory. Fokker must award subcontracts for the biggest share of this 65 million guilder order, however, to avoid exceeding the country's 5.4 percent share in the project. Aerospace officials note that Dutch companies such as Fokker will lose the expertise that qualifies them for such work if they are unable to handle large contracts. In recent years the Dutch have lost several opportunities to exploit their knowledge in such fields as remote sensing and earth observation, for which there is a rapidly growing international market. Meanwhile, scientists at the Deift institute support the government's official policy of distributing ESA projects throughout Dutch industry on the hope that it will stimulate aerospace expertise in a larger number of companies. That approach is being applied to work on a robot arm for the Hermes space plane and compact disc data storage for the U.S. space station. But critics like Wakker fear that none of these projects will reach the critical mass needed to ensure that the Dutch will play a role in future space missions. Remarked Kleisen of the science advisory council, "Perhaps the government would do better to give its ESA project money directly to Fokker." Friedeman is science editor of the Amsterdam newspaper De Volksrant.

Dutch 'Lack Vision, Courage'

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