When I was growing up, space was a hot topic. Star Trek, the TV series about the Enterprise spaceship and Mr. Spock, with his funny little ears, was very popular. After the landing on the moon in 1969 all the boys in my class wanted to become astronauts, just like Neil Armstrong.
Personally, I have never dreamed of becoming the first woman on the moon. Even so, I am very enthusiastic about my role as Parliament's spokesperson on space. Times have changed. Back in the 60's, the famous phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty" was complete science fiction. But in today's world, when we can easily Skype with people who are on the side of the planet, it seems a little less out there.
Space is no longer about aliens and faraway planets. It is about our daily lives. Satellite-based navigation systems are one example, and they are certainly ideal for people like me who have no sense of direction.
Many other space-based applications benefit us every day: satellites continuously supply information to intelligence services or to farmers seeking to irrigate their land in the most efficient way possible.
Satellite data provide for a constant stream of innovation, for example for start-ups that develop smartphone apps or for the development of self-driving cars. In these times of 'big data', people often say: 'data is the new gold'. In that case, space certainly is a promising gold mine. One that we cannot afford to lay aside unused.
Investing in space yields many benefits. Europe has an innovative space industry, which currently provides over 320,000 jobs. There are also positive spill-over effects to other sectors.
Last month, I visited the European space research and technology centre in Noordwijk with a delegation of MEPs, where I shook hands with a robot that very sensitively passes on everything it feels to the operator.
This comes in handy when a complex operation in space needs to be performed remotely. This technique can also be used in dangerous places it is better to stay away from, such as a nuclear reactor.
In the autumn, the European Commission will publish its European space strategy. The strategy must be ambitious and tackle the European space sector's most essential challenges, such as the insufficient market uptake of space data and the spaghetti landscape of public organisations and agencies dealing with space. What we need is a simple institutional landscape, with a clear division of responsibilities and tasks.
The private sector should supply all space services, unless where security constraints make this impossible.
The public sector, on the other hand, should fund research in breakthrough technologies where Europe can make the difference. In other cases they should just procure services from industry.
In the European Parliament we are currently working on a joint resolution in which we will flag the most pressing issues. Investing in space is important for our future. Europe, don't miss the spaceship.