uropean nations approved funding for a new Ariane 6 space rocket on Tuesday (2 December), pooling their resources in a single, simplified version to tackle growing international competition.
The new, lower-cost rocket will replace the current Ariane 5 from its first launch in 2020, French Research Minister Genevieve Fioraso said after ministerial talks in Luxembourg.
Science ministers from the 20 nation European Space Agency, which last month made headlines by landing a probe on a speeding comet, also approved European funding for the International Space Station (ISS) and a further mission to Mars.
Ariane 6 will account for about half of the 8 billion euro budget approved by ministers over 10 years.
