New rockets, astronauts and missions: ESA looks forward to next 50 years

All things considered 2014 was was an extraordinary year for the European Space Agency, most notably with its success in landing a probe on a comet. Now the agency is training new astronauts to go into space and is planning a range of other ambitious missions. So what does the future hold?

It is no secret that the space business requires long-term planning. Decisions taken at the ESA ministerial meeting in Luxembourg in early December 2014 will have an impact on what happens in the space sector…

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[DimitriosDenton]

Competing with spacex doesn't look like a good idea. We're talking about tens of millions of euro lost per launch and that is with the current pricing of space x. If they manage the reusable rockets, we're talking about even more of a loss. Spending 3 billion euro on the new rocket is even less of a good idea. That money could be used to help people.

We live in a globalised world. We shouldn't be afraid to use tech from other countries and we shouldn't stick to our pride.