Renewed enthusiasm in France for pursuing European civil and military space ambitions is expected to trigger a sharp rise in spending at French space agency CNES, after years of flat growth. The budget boost will culminate a long period of restructuring, reprioritization and Europeanization of the agency initiated following the dramatic failure of the Ariane 5 ECA inaugural mission in 2002, which was largely imputed to problems in the agency's organization. It also reflects a strong commitment by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last year, when he assumed the European Union presidency, to make France once again an engine of expansion for the European space program.
展开▼
