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German research minister Edelgard Bulmahn announced last week that the country will participate “substantially” in the European Space Agency's (ESA's) ‘optional’ Earth observation and launcher development programmes.

Her announcement has eased fears that Germany's contribution, which could make or break the programmes, might not emerge. But Bulmahn has not yet revealed how much Germany will contribute — that sum will be negotiated at next week's meeting of European space ministers.

The ministerial meeting has been delayed for nearly a year because of Germany's financial problems. It is being held to discuss the levels of resources and broad content of ESA's programmes over the next five years.

Bulmahn has long complained that heavy commitments to the International Space Station, which the Social Democrat-Green coalition government inherited from its predecessor, left no spare money for joining in new, unmanned space activities. These include Earth observation, one of the government's highest scientific priorities.

But, after a detailed review of potential savings in each part of the German space budget, Bulmahn says she has found room for manoeuvre. In addition, she says, the overall German space budget will be raised over the next few years, and she expects to win a DM10 million (US$5.4 million) increase to the 1999 budget of DM1.6 billion over the next few months.

Money for space activities is tight in other ESA member states as well. So prospects are bleak for an increase in resources for the ‘mandatory’ science programme, which ESA's director-general Antonio Rodotá calls the “backbone” of the agency.

Resources have been capped for the past four years, squeezing budgets for approved missions almost to breaking point (see Nature 395, 732; 1998). Rodotá will ask ministers to approve an internal reallocation of funds to maintain 1998 purchasing power until 2003, to ensure that all planned missions are launched on schedule.

Following Germany's announcement, ESA officials expect to be able to raise 759 million euros (US$804 million) at the ministerial meeting for the optional Earth observation programme, which has been redesigned on the ‘faster, cheaper, better’ principle (see Nature 392, 425; 1998).

The programme has a strong scientific element, with its Living Planet component aiming to achieve a launch every year. Small scientific missions will be interspersed with medium-sized ‘core’ scientific missions.

Selections for the first of both types of mission are currently being made by the scientific community. Front runners include a small ice altimetry mission called Cryosat, which will measure ice topography and ice motion, and a ‘core’ gravity mission called GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady State Ocean Circulation Explorer), which will measure irregularities in the Earth's mass distribution through gravity-field variations, with the aim of better understanding ocean circulation.

Space ministers will also discuss telecommunications and launcher plans next week. The latter include an extension of Ariane V and the development of smaller launchers to maintain international competitiveness. Ministers will be asked to finally approve plans to develop a second-generation Global Navigation Satellite System in partnership with the European Commission, at a cost to both partners of 500 million euros.