ESA, geo-return, space policy, underrepresented countries

Deleting geo-return based financing is contra-productive: national space agencies pay to improve their activity with knowledge and technology transfer. Stopping geo-return based funding will detach East-European countries from West-Europe. In East-Europe without geo-return young generation will go away, no scientists and engineers bring experience back home after their ESA job. Bad for the whole ESA, having partly lost NASA, loosing East-Europe is too much - better to work together :)

Source: Work nexperince in spoace projects inclduing ESA in the last 20 years