ESA likes NASA's new direction

The 18-nation European Space Agency will likely engage in more joint projects with NASA as the latter invests more in space science after the cancellation of the Constellation program (if that cancellation is approved by Congress). ESA's Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain lauded the US move to extend its participation in the ISS and suggested inviting three more nations, India, China, South Korea, to be ISS partners. He added that, "for Earth science we have only an occasional cooperation. What I have talked about with Charlie Bolden is the possibility of dividing up roles for future Earth observation missions.”

Several ESA candidates for the agency's next major space science mission, likely to invite cooperation from outside the agency (one idea would be Japanese-led) are worth noting: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8469782.stm