DASA pleads with French

Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH

DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) has appealed to France to continue supporting the European Columbus module of the Alpha Space Station, following fears of French withdrawal.

France has proposed to pull out of the DASA-led Columbus programme, by resurrecting its crew-rescue vehicle (CRV) project, cancelled earlier this year by the European Space Agency. DASA says that a French withdrawal from the Columbus project would be disastrous, especially for the German Company's space division in Bremen.

"Without Columbus, the capacities we have built over the last 20 years in the field of manned space-flight cannot be maintained," says DASA. The company points out that a French-led CRV project would be out of proportion to the country's space budget - while Germany's contribution to Columbus is DM1.2 billion ($8.6 million) up to the year 2000, France is only putting in half as much funding.

Source: Flight International