Antonio Fabrizi, the ESA Director of Launchers, said the ESA would be ready for the first launch of the cargo ship by the beginning of 2006, although the date would be heavily dependent on NASA's continually changing launch schedule.
Speaking about cooperation between the ESA and the Russian Space Agency on the Russian Clipper shuttle project, the ESA official said the agency would propose the project to ESA member-countries during an ESA ministerial meeting in Berlin on December 5, 2005.
In addition, the Russian and European space agencies are planning to jointly develop a new type of carrier rocket, Fabrizi said. The program has not yet been given a name, but Russia's experience in the construction and launches of the Soyuz spacecraft will help both sides to work out the details of a joint project to be discussed in December 2005, he added.
The ESA official said the participants of the ESA December 2005 meeting would also determine the amount of financing priority projects will receive over the next two-three years.
Fabrizi said Russia was the ESA's key partner developing and constructing carrier rockets, and that the European agency was considering broadening cooperation in the future.
