The European Space Agency (ESA) is proposing to spend 22 percent of its total budget between 2006 and 2010 on launcher-assistance programs, mainly to assure the competitiveness of its Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket, the Vega small-satellite launcher and a variant of Russia’s Soyuz launch vehicle that will be launched by Europe.

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Peter B. de Selding was the Paris bureau chief for SpaceNews.