Paris, May 28: A group of European nations agreed today to inject USD 1.42 billion into troubled rocket launcher Arianespace over six years, a German official said. In the move, the 15 members of the European space agency earmarked USD 269 million for the Ariane-5 rocket program, which suffered a huge setback in December when a souped-up Ariane-5 was destroyed after its launch went awry. Ministers from ESA nations, meeting in Paris, want the cash infusion through 2009 to reinforce Europe`s access to space, said Florian Frank, a spokesman for Germany`s research minister, Edelgard Bulmahn. Arianespace`s director-general, Jean-Yves le Gall, said in an interview published today that the company is facing "a terrible crisis unlike any other we`ve known." Gall was quoted in French daily as saying three crises are overlapping - the collapse of the commercial satellite market, the failure of the new-generation Ariane-5 in December, and an organizational crisis that has caused costs to rise.

The next-generation, souped-up Ariane-5, which is to carry heavier payloads than current rockets, is expected to be ready for commercial launches by 2005.

A day earlier, ESA member countries agreed to move forward with the Galileo global satellite navigation system, ending months of delay and controversy over Europe`s biggest infrastructure project.

The USD 3.6 billion program, Europe`s answer to the global positioning system put in place by the U.S. Military , is to place 30 satellites in orbit by 2008.

Bureau Report