VIDEO: ESA head talks credit crunched cosmic issues

The European Space Agency's director general Jean-Jacques Dordain has recorded an interview, in English and French, about the challenges facing the agency and in particular in the wake of the worldwide financial disaster

Talk of new manned transportation systems and the Moon has taken a back seat to a focus on the Earth orientated European space policy with its priorities for services for the citizens and orbital infrastructure that will be used for security purposes

But there does still seem to be hope for an evolution of ESA's International Space Station resupply vehicle Automated Transfer Vehicle, into a cargo return craft