Abstract
Never before has the European Space Agency had more science satellites in operation. European space scientists enjoy vast amounts of data being downlinked from the Hubble Space Telescope, Ulysses, SOHO, Cassini/Huygens, XMM-Newton, Cluster, Integral, Mars Express, Rosetta and Venus Express, and from the ESA cooperation satellites Double Star, Akari and Hinode. In 2005 ESA put forward its ambitious "Cosmic Vision 2015-2025" concept for the future. But at the same time, the Science Programme has hit major economic and political obstacles, the visions and ambitions of the space science community are not matched by the European politicians funding the space science endeavour. In this Friday seminar Per B. Lilje who is Norwegian delegate in the Science Programme Committee (SPC) will explain the situation and describe what lies in the future after the decisions taken by the SPC at its 22-23 February 2007 meeting.