The Matra Marconi Space SA joint venture of Matra SA, 51% and GEC Plc, 49%, is to pay about $150,000 for a 15.6% stake in Eurocolumbus Raumfahrtgesellschaft GmbH, which is to build the Columbus space station: European space ministers meet in Granada, Spain on November 9 and 10 to decide whether or not to fund Columbus and a host of other European space projects, including the Hermes space plane; the other shareholders in Eurocolumbus are Daimler-Benz AG’s Deutsche Aerospace AG unit with 51% and Italy’s Alenia SpA with 33.4%; if it gets the green light, Eurocolumbus will begin final development of the Columbus attached pressurised module in 1993 and launch it in 1999.
