EADS Astrium![](/images/icons/who)
, Europe's aerospace conglomerate, is once again toying with the possibility of building a European piloted spacecraft. Europe's rocket scientists have tried to interest their politicians in funding piloted space projects in the past, most notably the Hermes and
Saenger![](/images/icons/term)
spaceplanes. But as spending on these programs climbed, the politicians eventually balked at completing them.