'You can't be a super power without being a space power'

European Space Agency director general Josef Aschbacher says Europe needs to increase its space ambitions. He fears falling behind the US, China and even India as these other countries make big investments in space, in both the public and private domains. Dr Aschbacher also wants to see a more fleet-of-foot approach from his agency. Under his leadership, Esa will change the way it does business, and he held up as an example the contract just signed to purchase telecommunication services from the UK Lunar Pathfinder mission. He spoke to our science correspondent Jonathan Amos.

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