They’re self inflicted.
European rocket politics are complicated by the “geographic return rule,” which states that each member nation must receive a proportional amount of contracts to the amount of funding it contributes to the space agency. “With the dawn of New Space and the delays in Ariane 6 launcher development, an ongoing debate has emerged about whether geo-return is consistent with the competition and competitiveness that is needed in Europe’s space industry,” Aschbacher wrote in March.
#ProTip: It never was.
ESA was not a space agency: It was, and is, a socialist employment scam and prestige race – for a race that’s already been won by a dozen competent countries and more than one private compancy (not including ArianeSpace
Just like the A380 was a Euroweenie vanity project. The 747 stayed in production longer.
They would be better off just buying rides from SpaceX and focusing on what they want to do in space. Eurostan doesn’t need nuclear weapons anyway.
Speaking of woes: Frank Borman just passed at 95 and Ken Mattingly passed just a week ago Tuesday. We are quickly losing the Apollo generation. Although neither of these astronauts walked on the moon, I am skeptical there will be any moon-walkers left alive before we return to the moon.