Posted by tourdemars to Mars Express at July 24, 2003 12:00 PM

Europe's leading space and satellite company, EADS Astrium, whose Stevenage-based engineers and technicians designed and built the Beagle 2 Mars Lander, today announced that it has become Beagle 2's first commercial sponsor. EADS Astrium's backing, worth over £1 million, is the first sponsorship of its kind in space exploration.