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After Britain, Germany and France, it is now Belgium’s turn to wonder
whether Europe’s space programme is worth the money.

In 1989, Belgium pledged to pay for 6 per cent of the three big projects
planned by the European Space Agency – the manned space vehicle Hermes,
the Ariane 5 booster rocket and the space platform Columbus. But Eric De
Rijcker, the Belgian secretary of state for science policy, said last week
that as Belgium accounts for only 3 per cent of the GNP of ESA members,
its contribution is double what it should be.

Belgium’s spending on the three projects, nearly £1 billion, accounts
for 12 per cent of the country’s science budget.

De Rijcker questions the worth of a European manned space programme.
‘This is not Tintin on the Moon,’ he said.