SpaceX developments, Canada's partnership with the European Union, and a new immigration mechanism

SpaceX announced that it is preparing to launch the next test flight of the Starship vehicle on September 22, a mission that is expected to put the vehicle into orbit for the first time and deploy the Starlink V3 satellites.

The fourteenth test flight of “Starship” will represent a major leap in the development of the missile, compared to its last test in July, which transported the vehicle on a suborbital path into space before returning it to Earth without completing a full orbital cycle, according to Reuters news agency.

The company plans to place “Starship” in orbit around the Earth, which is an important achievement that will allow it to test the vehicle on a longer-term flight and deploy the first batch of “Starlink V3” satellites.

The mission, which is awaiting regulatory approval, is expected to last approximately 10 hours, as Starship will fly approximately 275 kilometers above Earth and complete about six orbital cycles before landing in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

SpaceX plans to test the booster's launch and separation procedures, reverse thrust maneuver and ocean landing, moving the company toward its goal of creating a fully reusable orbital launch system.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed on Wednesday that Canada, which seeks to strengthen its rapprochement with Europe, would become the “first partner member” of the European Union, during a speech she delivered before the European Parliament in the presence of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Von der Leyen told Mark Carney, who was invited to Strasbourg to attend her annual State of the Union address: “We want to raise relations with Canada to the highest possible level (...) So I would like to work with you to explore the possibility of Canada becoming the first partner member of the European Union,” according to Agence France-Presse.

The Canadian Prime Minister, the first foreign head of government to attend the State of the Union address, is scheduled to address the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday.

Canada - which is locked in a trade war with the United States headed by Donald Trump - is seeking to find new partners. On the other hand, Europe, whose relations with Washington are witnessing similar tension, is seeking to mobilize support for its strategy aimed at striking a balance with the two superpowers. China and the United States.

Von der Leyen added: “We look at the world with one eye: from artificial intelligence to climate change, from the Arctic to geopolitics,” calling on Ottawa and Brussels to “build a common future.”

Canada and the European Union are economic partners, thanks to a trade agreement that increased the volume of exchange between them by more than 75 percent “in less than a decade,” according to von der Leyen. Despite this, she stressed “the need to reformulate our partnerships,” calling for Canada to be granted partner member status.

The status of associate member is not legally defined in the European Union treaties, but Germany recently proposed granting Ukraine this status, so that Kiev can attend some ministerial meetings or European summits, without having the right to vote.

In another context, the President of the European Commission announced that the bloc would propose creating an “emergency response” mechanism that would allow its countries to better deal with waves of mass migration, following the killing of dozens as a result of the large influx of migrants to the Spanish city of Ceuta, located in North Africa, this summer.

Von der Leyen said, in her annual speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, that the decline in the number of irregular immigrants is due to the laws that were recently passed, noting that the number of arrivals has declined by 55 percent over the past two years.

But the Ceuta crisis in July demonstrated the need for new mechanisms to deal with emergencies, she said, and von der Leyen added: “Europe needs to have the necessary means to protect its borders at all times, especially in cases where waves of mass migration are planned and used as a weapon.” For this reason, we will propose a new European emergency response framework.”

The President of the European Commission explained that the activation of the proposed emergency framework will only take place “in accordance with a set of carefully defined criteria.” She noted that it would allow “a degree of temporary and carefully defined flexibility in procedures,” without providing further details. She said: “Europe’s message is clear: We will always adhere to our values ​​and fundamental rights, but we will never compromise on protecting our borders.” She added: “We Europeans are the ones who decide who comes to our union, and under what circumstances, not smugglers or human traffickers.”

More than 70,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta, arriving from Morocco on July 30 and 31, in a wave of influx that resulted in dozens of deaths, most of whom drowned while trying to arrive by swimming.

Most of those who entered the Spanish enclave returned to Morocco hours after their arrival, while thousands of them remained in Ceuta.

In addition to the proposed emergency framework, von der Leyen also pledged to strengthen the capabilities of the Frontex agency responsible for monitoring borders, with the aim of speeding up deportations and improving European “early warning systems”, including partnerships with countries outside the European Union.

Immigration has become a very sensitive issue across Europe in recent years, with public opinion hardening towards it, which has contributed to strengthening the electoral gains of far-right parties, according to Agence France-Presse.