Daniel Neuenschwander, head of space transportation for the European Space Agency (ESA), said efforts were under way to cut costs and stay competitive in a market increasingly dominated by U.S. and Chinese players, but the playing field was not level. "It's a tough competition but we should make sure that it is done in a way that is fair," Neuenschwander told Reuters at the opening of a new German Aerospace Center rocket test site in Lampoldshausen, near Stuttgart. "I think that you better clean your own house before you start to complain about someone else's." SpaceX told the U.S. Trade Representative in a letter dated Dec. 10 and first reported last week that European subsidies to Arianespace, Europe's primary space launch provider, created an "imbalanced competitive advantage that threatens fair trade".
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