EU not supporting space sector: Astrium head

"Every country is backing its industry, except Europe," argued Astrium chairman Francois Augue in the French financial paper Les Echos.

"If Brussels implements the policy that is being developed, it will ultimately mean the end of Europe's space industry presence on the world scene."

The European Commission wants to boost competition in the EU aerospace sector notably by supporting small and medium-sized companies. It has awarded a contract to German firm OHB to build 14 satellites for the European geo-positioning system Galileo.

"It's extremely worrying," Auque told Les Echos. "The real question is the following: 'who is going to take on the American exporters?' And the response is 'the big companies.'"

Astrium, a subsidiary of the European aerospace group EADS, last year sold seven telecommunications satellites but is less optimistic about its performance in 2010.

"In 2010, to maintain a pace of five (satellite sales) a year would be a very good result," Auque said.

He foresaw sales this year below the 8.5 billion euros (11 billion dollars) recorded in 2009 because of "a slowdown in institutional orders."

(c) 2010 AFP