mr president i had a childhood ambition of being one of the pioneers in space i daresay many other children had the same and when i grew up in nineteen sixty-nine i was inspired by those images that came back to us from the lunar landing project particularly the television image of the earth from space
space is now less of a headline grabber but it is extremely important for all the reasons that other colleagues have given and i applaud the european union commitment to a space policy
i visited the nasa goddard center in washington a year ago and very recently esa the european space agency centre in rome and to me the images they can show us of the work that they undertake make space as exciting as ever
in fact the more people see these images the more perhaps we will bring space down to earth
but what it also showed me anew was the relevance to science to research and to the economy of the use of space and the importance of the satellites and their launchers
commissioner i have been made aware of concerns felt by satellite operators about the need to observe international agreements with regard to spectrum usage and satellite footprints
there is a concern that if any breach of international arrangements is tolerated other regions will breach them too
it seems to me that effective exploitation of space depends crucially on observing common agreed laws and principles so i hope the commission can reassure us and them on that point
we have a good story to tell of achievements and prospects in space
