ESA Gets 10 Percent Budget Hike for 2005

摘要

The European Space Agency (ESA) has been granted a 10 percent budget increase for 2005 to finance continued investment in launch vehicles and to pay for large new bills coming from its space-station program. Disclosing the spending plan here Jan. 21, ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain said that despite the budget increase, 2005 would be a year of belt-tightening to help clear away a deficit that has accumulated in the past several years and now exceeds 600 million euros ($780 million).