Brussels, 01/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jan Wörner told EUROPE on Tuesday 1 March that the opening of an in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of Arianespace by Airbus Safran Launcher could cause a delay in preparation of decisions on Ariane 6 operations after 2020 (see EUROPE 11501).
According to Wörner, the proposed acquisition that is the subject of an in-depth European Commission investigation could be a step towards the change of governance sought by the ESA Council in order to ensure the operation of the future launcher without the support of the public sector. The procedure that is taking place will not affect launcher competitiveness in the short and medium terms.
At the end of 2014, the 20 European members of ESA and Canada decided to go ahead with Ariane 6 from 2020 (see EUROPE 11210), at an estimated cost of €8 billion over 10 years, in part funded by the ESA's Ariane programme to which France and Germany contribute 52% and 22% respectively. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)