PARIS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The head of the European Space

Agency dismissed concerns on Thursday that cooperation in Europe

is dwindling as Italy charts its own course on rocket operations

and weighs a potential agreement with Elon Musk's Starlink on

satellites.

Italy's Avio is due to take over operations of the

Vega C rocket on behalf of ESA, pulling the Italian-built rocket

away from Europe's main launch operator, Arianespace.

Meanwhile Rome is evaluating potential supply accords with

Starlink, and Musk said on Monday that he was "ready to provide

Italy the most secure and advanced connectivity!".

"We are observing very carefully how much nationalisation

takes place and how much European activity take place," ESA

Director General Josef Aschbacher told Reuters.

"Space is becoming more and more strategic and important. It

is also clear that investments in space are increasing... My job

is to underline the benefit to European countries of

participating in European programmes rather than national ones."

Reports in the past week of a potential role for Starlink in

Italy come weeks after the European Commission announced funds

for the long-awaited IRIS² constellation, designed to offer

secure communications for European governments and agencies.

"It is such a dimension ... that it requires a European

approach. You need European programmes," Aschbacher said on the

sidelines of an annual presentation by the Paris-based agency.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has developed a strong

relationship with Musk, a close ally of incoming U.S. President

Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, the European Union is grappling with how to

respond to social media posts by Musk that have castigated some

elected leaders and generated consternation in several capitals.

At a press conference, Aschbacher declined to comment when

asked whether Musk's remarks would affect the way ESA does

business.

ESA has turned to SpaceX to launch some European payloads

during a recent gap in the region's access to space.

The 22-nation agency, founded 50 years ago to unify efforts

in launchers and satellites, faces a crucial year for

re-building independent access to space after various setbacks.

LAUNCH PLANS

Its flagship Ariane 6 staged a delayed first launch last

July. The second launch, which is also the first commercial

mission, was initially scheduled for the end of last year.

ESA officials said Ariane 6 would now stage its next launch

in February and a further four in 2025 for a total of five

during the year, down from an earlier target of six.

The missing launch involves a satellite for weather agency

EUMETSAT which last year announced plans to switch an upcoming

satellite launch to SpaceX's Falcon 9. EUMETSAT did not respond

to a request for comment on its current plans.

ESA itself has no further SpaceX launches in the pipeline

other than the deployment of Sentinel-6B in co-operation with

NASA, which is funding the launch, ESA Director of Space

Transportation Toni Tolker-Nielsen said.

"We only launched our satellites on Falcon 9 because we did

not have Ariane 6 or Vega C available. Now that we (do) we will

launch our satellites with these two launchers and I will not

enter the discussion (on Musk)," he said.

Vega C returned to space in December after failing on its

first commercial launch in December 2022, restoring a second

pillar of Europe's access to orbit.

It will perform four launches in 2025, Tolker-Nielsen said.