欧洲13国航天部长会议于1991年11月18～20日在慕尼黑举行。会议目的是对欧洲的几个大型航天计划进行决策,确定各成员国参加项目的资金份额。因此,这次会议对欧洲航天事业的发展和欧洲在未来航天活动中如何发挥作用都具有重要意义。但由于各成员国在许多问题上存在分歧,各持已见,会议最终未取得积极的结果,只就欧洲航天计划的继续达成了一项协议。 一、为继续欧洲航天计划 寻求共识 法国作为欧洲第一航天大国,把研制使神号航天飞机和哥伦布空间站与发展核能、高速火车和空中客车飞机放在同等重要的地位。法国对这次欧洲航天部长会议极为重视,从9月份开始就在国内大造舆论,争取国民的支持。法国寄望会议做出有利的决定,以使欧空局大型航天计划早日进入实质性生产阶段。 与此相反,作为欧洲第二航天大国的德国,由于东西部统一后,国家出现了严重的财政困难,无力支持这些投资浩大的航天计划。许多政治家也借机以各种理 European Space Conference of Ministers of 13 countries held in Munich on November 18-20, 1991. The purpose of the conference is to make decisions on several large space programs in Europe and determine the share of each member’s country in participating in the project. Therefore, this conference is of great significance to the development of the European space industry and to Europe’s role in future space activities. However, due to the disagreements among many member countries on many issues and the different opinions they have taken, the meeting has finally failed to yield positive results. Only an agreement has been reached on the continuation of the European space program. I. Seeking Consensus for Continuing the European Space Program France, as Europe’s number one spacefaring power, has placed equal emphasis on the development of the space shuttle Markus and the Columbus space station for the development of nuclear energy, high-speed trains and Airbus aircraft. France attaches great importance to this meeting of the European space ministers. Since September, it has made major public opinion in the country and won the support of its people. France hopes that the Conference will make favorable decisions so that the ESA’s large-scale space program will enter an early stage of substantive production as soon as possible. In contrast, as Germany, the second European spacefaring power, because of the reunification of the east and west, the country experienced serious financial difficulties and was unable to support these vast space projects. Many politicians also took the opportunity to use various theories