A European Commission official said Jan. 12 the commission should play a role in developing Europe's next-generation rocket. Philippe Brunet, speaking at a space policy conference in Brussels, said that European officials should take a bigger role in designing the vehicle to come after the Ariane 6 since the commission is now the largest customer for European launch services. Not everyone agrees with Brunet's logic. "If I buy 1,000 Mercedes cars, do I then get to design the vehicles? Customers should be consulted, not invited into the design room," a European industry official said privately. Brunet also suggested that the European Space Agency should be investing more in reusable launch vehicle technology, citing recent achievements by Blue Origin and SpaceX.
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