PARIS: Europe is looking to thumb a ride for its 1 billion euro ($1.21 billion) space laboratory which has been gathering dust on Earth since the US space shuttle was all but grounded after a 2003 crash. The US shuttle is the only vehicle that can carry large equipment to the International Space Station and its grounding has left the European Space Agency wondering how else it might send the Columbus research centre into orbit.

“What we hope is for the Columbus to be launched as quickly as possible,” Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of the European Space Agency says.

US space agency Nasa halted shuttle flights for more than two years after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas in February 2003, killing seven astronauts.

It launched the Discovery shuttle last July but the fleet was quickly grounded again because of new problems.

The next shuttle flight is tentatively scheduled for May. But Dordain says there are other countries with scientific projects waiting to catch a ride.

He says there are others in the queue, notably the Japanese who want their laboratory launched as quickly as possible.

He also wants to make sure that there will be enough flights for scientists to access the European laboratory after it has been sent into orbit.

He says there is no way that Europe will be able to build its own shuttle in the foreseeable future. Budget constraints and a focus on science projects that could bring more practical benefits to Europeans mean that building a space transport system for goods or people is not a priority..—Reuters