Esa agrees programmes and budgets

European Space Agency (Esa) member states have resolved key issues at their ministerial council and agreed a 10.1bn-euro programme of activities.

The big decisions included a go-ahead for an upgrade on Europe's Ariane 5 rocket in parallel with design work on a replacement for the early 2020s.

Prof Jan Woerner, head of the German Space Agency and part of the German delegation at the Naples meeting, gave his impression of the meeting's outcome.