paris

Europe's Ariane-5 launcher, which exploded on its maiden flight last year, is back on track after last week's successful launch from Kourou in French Guiana. The launcher, which cost US$7 billion to develop, is Europe's main space project and its ticket to maintaining its autonomy in space and continuing its dominance of the commercial launch market.

A repeat of the first failure, which cost the European Space Agency $350 million, would have plunged Europe's cash-strapped space programme into crisis (see page 8).

Ariane 5 was originally designed to carry Hermès, a planned European space shuttle that has since been abandoned. Somewhat poignantly, France last week decided to withdraw from the last relic of its Hermès activities, a joint US-European programme to build a crew rescue vehicle for the international space station. The decision reflects the aversion of Claude Allègre, the new space minister, to manned space flight, as well as the end of the country's ambitions in this area.