APPLICATIONS OF ESA'S EURECA.

Eureca, the European Retrievable Carrier, due to become operational in 1988, provides a technological and scientific link to the Space Station era. It is designed to be recovered six or nine months after launch by Shuttle. Eureca can then be re-fitted with different payload elements and re-flown, having been designed for a nominal 10-year, 5-flight life. The first is designed primarily for microgravity experiments, ESA having funded five materials science and life science facilities, which account for some two-thirds of the 1 ton payload. There are two other 'add-on' microgravity experiments and Eureca-1 also carries instruments that exploit its solar pointing, stable platform and technological capabilities. The potential non-microgravity users distinguish three types of improved Eureca mission to meet the needs of the Astronomical and Earth sciences and for technology development. ESA is receiving frequent enquiries from inside and outside Europe and serious plans are already being made to procure at least one more.