A European Mars Moving Ahead SpaceDaily

If you live in Europe, there’s almost certainly a research institute or industrial company near you that is contributing materials or expertise to Mars Express, Europe’s first mission to the Red Planet. Under the umbrella of the European Space Agency, at least 25 companies from 15 European countries are building hardware or software for the spacecraft, or otherwise contributing their expertise; and more than 200 scientists from research institutes in all ESA member states and beyond are contributing towards the scientific payload.