§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons decisions on European participation in the post-Apollo programme were postponed from 13th July to 31st July; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. Michael HeseltineAt the meeting of the European Space Conference on 12th July it was found that a number of countries were not yet in a position to make firm commitments to the three new space programmes under consideration—the L3S heavy launcher, the Spacelab—as part of the United States post-Apollo programme—and a satellite for maritime communication. In these circumstances, the conference decided to adjourn its meeting until 31st July, so as to allow more time for those countries to reach decisions, and thus to provide a better basis for the consideration by all member States of their attitude both to the new programmes and to the proposed European Space Agency.