Jockeying for supremacy in Europe's own space race

EE October 1986 JOCKEYING FOR SUPREMACY IN EUROPE"S OWN SPACE RACE Within the next ten years, the European Space Agency (ESA) will be operating an autonomous space station known as Columbus. It will comprise manned modules and laboratories, free-flying platforms, and other equipment launched by the United States" Space Shuttle and the proposed European Ariane 5 rocket. It will be serviced by the European manned space- plane, Hermes, and poss- ibly by the British un- manned Hotol shuttle. As a member of ESA, the United Kingdom will play an important role in these projects, not only with Hotol, but also particularly the free-flying platforms for Earth observation, astron- omy, and materials pro- cessing. Britain"s financial contribution to ESA is 12.9 per cent and its partici- pation in mandatory ESA programmes represents 16 per cent of the effort and manpower. There is a thriving space industry in the United Kingdom and this has been involved in the building and operation of over 5...