16/11/2018 (Agence Europe) – Some 14 CEOs of the space sector (including Thales Alenia Space, OHB, Airbus Defence & Space, SENER, ArianeGroup, Arianespace) sent a letter, on Thursday 15 November, to the ministers responsible for space issues in preparation for the Competitiveness Council (scheduled for 29 November), in which they asked to secure space research allocations in the next Horizon EuropeFramework Programme. They propose that €4 billion be allocated to space research. In addition, the signatories are concerned about the format of the partnerships with industry laid out in the proposal. They point to the existence of a pilot project (STEPP), which brings together key actors in the sector to develop a work programme, reflecting on how to create a future European institutional partnership for space technologies and systems after 2020. They are therefore asking ministers to take into account the work done by the pilot project. (PH)