European Space Agency director general Jean-Jacques Dordain has stressed that while many ESA member states' governments are facing financial strain and some are having difficulty meeting contribution obligations to the ESA budget, he has as yet had no indication that any members want programmes cancelled. "The financial crisis is a fact," he says, but adds that his job is to manage programmes forward within any constraints that may come up. Most urgently, Dordain wants to see ESA members agree by year-end to match the US commitment to keep the International Space Station operational until 2020.
Source: Flight Daily News
