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Paris, 27 May 2003
Press Release
NX 35-2003

Securing Europe's access to space, now and for the future

Ministers in charge of space affairs in Europe, meeting in Paris
today, agreed on steps to put Ariane 5 back on track and set up
development of future launchers within a reorganised launcher sector,
free funds for the International Space Station and strengthen
relations between ESA and the European Union, while Galileo has
become a reality for Europe.

The Ministers responsible for space matters in ESA's fifteen Member
States and Canada have today held a one-day meeting at the Agency's
Paris headquarters.  This was a follow-on from the ministerial
gathering that took place in November 2001 in Edinburgh, where they
had taken a number of important decisions on current programmes and
new initiatives, with the overarching ambition to place space at the
service of European citizens. Whereas the Edinburgh decisions had
been implemented,  new decisions were required now to help ensure
that Europe remains at the forefront of space, especially in the
field of launch systems, and that space is fully recognised as a key
to efficient implementation of major European policies in such areas
as transport, the environment, science, and security in the broadest
sense. 

The decisions taken today are critical to safeguarding Europe's
guaranteed access to space. The Ministers have helped ESA restore the
competitiveness of Europe's launcher system, restructure its launcher
sector and prepare the future generation of launchers. In addition,
they decided to unblock funds for exploitation of the International
Space Station and reaffirmed their commitment to closer cooperation
with the European Union.

In particular, the Ministers decided to support Europe's commercial
launch operator, Arianespace, in the resumption of production of the
"generic" version of Ariane 5 in order to guarantee continuity in
launcher operations. At the same time they decided to support the
qualification of  the new and more powerful version (ECA, for a 10t
lift-off capacity) by means of two flights in 2004 and to reduce
production costs further. In order to sustain Europe's guaranteed
access to space, the Ministers also agreed on a specific programme
over the period 2005-2009 aimed at intensifying the institutional use
of Ariane 5. 

In addition to this first set of measures to overcome present
difficulties in the launcher sector, which is undergoing a severe
worldwide crisis, structural measures have been taken to secure the
robustness of the overall European launcher sector, demonstrating
political will to strengthen the sector.

First, the Ministers supported the need to reorganise the launcher
sector so as to establish a strong link between production and
development. They also decided to prepare for development of the next
generation of launchers, thereby improving Europe's competitiveness
in the field, and to build up international cooperation. This
cooperation, initially with Russia, includes operation of the Russian
Soyuz launcher by Arianespace from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's
spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, as from 2006.

Through the decisions taken today by the Ministers and the related
exceptional and structural measures, Europe's guaranteed access to
space will be restored and its future will be secured.

Another subject dealt with by the Ministers was Europe's exploitation
of the International Space Station. At the previous mMinisterial
meeting, in Edinburgh, part of the funds necessary for European
exploitation of the Space Station had been blocked pending
confirmation that the American partner would honour commitments it
had given previously, showing that Europe was indeed willing to
cooperate, but not at any price.  The Ministers now agreed to unblock
a first part of the ISS Exploitation Programme funds, to cover
time-critical activities mainly related to the availability of ESA's
Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and to the European ISS ground
segment. Timely availability of the ATV will help to make up for a
reduced Shuttle fleet after the Columbia accident.

The Ministers also addressed the relationship between ESA and the
European Union, which has become a regular feature of the meetings at
ministerial level. The first Resolution adopted at the Edinburgh
meeting in November 2001 had reflected a very positive outcome with
respect to this relationship, calling in particular for a framework
agreement to formalise cooperation between the two organisations.
Since then, this subject has received attention at the highest
political level, as seen in the cooperation between the European
Commission and ESA on drafting the Green Paper on European Space
Policy and also in the possible inclusion of space matters in the
revised mandate of the European Union, currently under consideration
by the European Convention. 

New steps have therefore been taken towards a closer relationship
between ESA and the Union. The Ministers expressed their wish to see
it deepened and developed further, and urged the Agency to complete,
before the end of 2003, the framework agreement to form the basis on
which ESA and the EU will work together permanently.

In addition, the Ministers noted that Europe is now in a position to
finalise the conditions for participation in the Galileo navigation
programme. The agreement reached among ESA Member States clears the
way for the official launch of the Joint Undertaking between ESA and
the European Union, the legal entity that will have the task of
coordinating their cooperation on Galileo, the European initiative to
develop a global satellite navigation system.

On the space science  programme, the Ministers welcomed  ESA's
Science Programme Committee's decision on Rosetta's new mission
baseline: the spacecraft will be launched in February 2004 from
Kourou, French Guiana, using an Ariane 5 launcher. The rendezvous
with the new target comet, Churyumov-Gerasimenko, is expected in
November 2014. 

The cost of the Rosetta launch delay has created a cash-flow problem
for the science programme, which is currently operating under tight
budgetary restrictions, but this problem will  now be resolved by the
ESA Council, through  approval of financial flexibility at Agency
level. "This is a great day for Europe in general and its space
community in particular. Conscious of the economic, industrial and
strategic importance of guaranteed access to space and  applications
such as satellite navigation, our Member States have  given fresh
momentum to European space activities, demonstrating  Europe's
continued resolve to remain at the forefront", said Antonio Rodotà,
ESA Director General. 

Describing the outcome of today's ministerial meeting of the ESA
Council, Mrs Edelgard Bulmahn, who chaired the conference, said "the
decisions reached are among the most important in years. The ESA
Member States have provided the Ariane launcher system with the
structures it needs to deal effectively with competition in a keenly
disputed market. Thanks to the agreement on restructuring,
policy-makers and industrialists alike can rely on planning stability
over the years ahead. Responsibilities have been clearly established
and price stability has been secured". 

For further information, please contact :
ESA Media Relations Service
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

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