German Space Agency Calls for Bigger EU Budget on Space Exploration

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2019) The space budget of European countries should be increased in order to further advance the continent's exploration of outer space, Prof. Dr. Hansjoerg Dittus, the German Aerospace Center's executive board member for space research and technology, told Sputnik.

Germany is a member of the European Space Agency, whose annual budget amounts to over $6 billion.

"There is no doubt that the budgets are small. That's for sure. The European budget for space is much much smaller than all budgets here in Russia or, of course, in the United States. A society like Europe should have more money for these kind activities because we need them," Dittus said.

He noted that people were thinking about defense strategies and about what they liked to do in space.

"But this, of course, is a process that Europe will undergo in the upcoming years, and, together with our European partners, it has to be decided. Nevertheless, budgets must go up to realize all the nice plans we have," Dittus concluded.

NASA's budget for 2019 is $21.5 billion, but the White House has proposed raising this figure to $22.6 billion next year. The suggestion was released following US President Donald Trump's directive to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024.

China, another nation that has ambitious plans for space exploration, with its sights set on Mars and beyond, reportedly has a corresponding budget totaling some $8 billion.