Europe losing space race Apr 23, 1999 Europe has become too
dependent on the US for technology, according to a new report
from the European Space Agency (ESA). Its long-term space policy
committee proposes that ESA should increase spending on a wide
range of areas, including a new reusable launcher to replace the
Ariane rocket, a European global positioning system, and new
space defence capabilities. The committee also recommends that
ESA should fund physics experiments on the international space
station and give higher priority to looking for Earth-like
planets around other stars. ESA’s ruling body – the council of
ministers – will meet later this month to discuss the agency’s
budget for the next four years. Antonio Rodotà, ESA’s director
general, will ask ministers for a total of Euro 1.85bn (about
£1.2bn) for the science programme and a further Euro 759m for
the Earth observation programme during this period. He will also
call for annual rises in ESA’s budget, which has fallen by 15%
to Euro 2650m since 19