Aurora programme to be renamed as agency seeks greater backing from member states

Aurora, the European Space Agency's (ESA) long-term space vision, is to be renamed and broadened in outlook to encourage member state support. Expected to be called the Preparatory European Space Exploration Programme (PESEP), it will be broader than the Aurora effort with more technology-driven missions. It is hoped this will encourage all of ESA's 15 member states to support the programme. Under Aurora, participating states are required to provide $45 million a year for five years.

Daniel Sacotte, ESA's head of space exploration, says PESEP will have the same long-term goal as Aurora, but "there will be bigger changes to the short-term plans. We want to be flexible and [these changes] have also been affected by the US [Project Constellation]." The medium-term plans for Aurora, such as the Mars sample return mission, are unlikely to change, he says.

PESEP advanced studies were given the go-ahead at last week's ESA council meeting. These studies will help determine the final programme, which will then go to another council meeting in 2005 for approval.

Aurora, endorsed by the ESA council in 2001, was originally a 30-year vision culminating in a manned Mars mission by 2030. Leading up to that were missions to study the red planet and demonstrations of human spaceflight technologies.

ROB COPPINGER / LONDON

Source: Flight International