ESA chief vows to restore Europe’s access to space

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Space Agency chief says he wants to rebuild Europe’s access to space following the botched launch of a European rocket carrying two Earth observation satellites last year and the delayed introduction of the Ariane 6 launcher. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Josef Aschbacher said his “priority is to reinstall access to space, guaranteed access to space for Europe. And I will work on that in all dimensions.” Meanwhile, the delayed launch of Ariane 6 is further denting Europe’s capacity to send satellites into space amid fierce competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and other rocket programs in the U.S. and China.