Difficult European space program

Ministers from 17 European countries will meet again on Monday in Berlin to discuss the future of Europe's space program. They will decide whether to conduct a series of space expeditions proposed for the next decade.

The exploration of Mars robot, replacing the lost Cryosat and the earth observation satellite network, is also competing for the budget.

Negotiations are considered very important for Europe's space industry in the context of shrinking commercial markets.

During this annual meeting, the European Space Commission will require 18 member countries (17 of Europe and Canada) to contribute 8.8 billion euros for mandatory and planned programs.

This amount includes 3.1 billion euros to carry out the compulsory science program until 2010 and 5.7 billion later to implement scheduled programs and start new expeditions.

Although the market for space operations has shrunk in recent years, public costs for space have increased.

This makes the implementation of decisions at the European Space Commission more and more important because most of the funds approved at the meeting will be spent on European space technology.

Member states have been determining investment priorities ahead of the Berlin summit.

Observers say it seems that all programs will find adequate funding, which makes the negotiation negotiations in and outside the meeting room even more stressful.

It is expected that the schools will give the green light for the future of Cryosat funding, which, in the opinion of the scientific community, is a key means of monitoring the earth's climate change