Paris, 03 Oct 2003
Some of the top names in the space launch sector will share their views of the future at a plenary session today organised by ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain.
Under discussion at the Bremen International Astronautical Congress will be the road map towards launch vehicles to come - and what role international cooperation may play in their development.
Today's session is entitled "Will space-faring nations join forces for developing future space transportation systems?" and will take place at 11.30 am in the Kaisen Saal room of the Congress Centre Bremen. The moderator will be Professor Claudio Bruno of the University of Rome La Sapienza.
As well as the Director General himself, the other participants from governmental institutions are NASA Director of Next Generation Launch Vehicle and OSP Dr John Rogacki , Russian Aviation and Space Agency Deputy Director-General Georgiy Maksimovitch Polishchuk, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Associate Executive Director Tadahiko Inada.
Joining them from industry will be Josef Kind, President of EADS Space Transportation and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace.
The session comes at a crucial time for the launch service market. With the commercial launch market in the doldrums, governments can no longer count on the commercial success of domestic launchers to fund their access to space. As a result, Europe and the United States are among those being forced to reconsider their space launch policy.
Today's plenary session will summarise worldwide governmental policies and institutional needs regarding access to space, with a particular focus on the latest developments. For next generation space transportation systems planned to be operational by 2020, international cooperation is being considered as a means of sharing research and development costs, bond industrial ties and enlarge the potential market of these systems.
European Space Agency
http:///www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index.ht ml
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