At the Industry Space Days 2006, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain highlighted recent European successes in space stressing that “all these successes are the success of European industry, because European industry is reliable and competitive.”

Dordain also emphasised the importance of SMEs, “innovation comes usually from SMEs” he said, and as they are more widely distributed in Europe than the big industries “involving SMEs is one way of increasing European interest in space”.