'Urgent' that Europe pursues space exploration, European space chief says

European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher at an ESA council meeting in Paris, France, on 23 November 2022. © REUTERS / BENOIT TESSIER

As more nations enter the space race, Europe must ensure it maintains a strong role in space exploration, the director general of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, told RFI.

"Classically, we have the United States and Russia as very strong space-faring nations," Aschbacher told RFI at the agency's headquarters in Paris, on the sidelines of its latest council meeting.