On Thursday 27 November, the Director General of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, announced record contributions from ESA Member States for the next three-year budget (2026-2029): €21.7 billion, out of the €22.2 billion requested. This represents an increase of 32% (17% taking inflation into account) compared with the budget decided in 2022. On Tuesday, December 2, the ESA announced a revised figure of 22.3 billion euros. Three years ago, the approved budget was €16.9 billion of the €18.5 billion requested (see EUROPE 13069/18).
“It’s incredible! It’s a unique message, and one that is so important for Europe. And a mark of confidence in our agency, for the proper management of the funds. It’s a huge success!”, Mr Aschbacher told the media, smiling broadly.
“I think the message that Europe needs to catch up, step up its efforts and literally propel Europe’s future into space has been taken very seriously by our ministers”, he added.
“The result (of the Ministerial) is remarkable. This is really about providing a crucial bridge for European space funding until the next (EU) multiannual budget is put in place”, Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space, confirmed to the press.
Mr Ashbacher detailed some of the figures. The Earth observation component has been allocated €3.5 billion (€2.852 in the proposal). In particular, Mr Aschbacher welcomed the fact that the budget allocated to space transport had risen from 3.895 billion to 4.4 billion. “This represents a considerable increase on previous subscriptions”, explained Mr Aschbacher.
The science programme is allocated €3.787 billion, as proposed, with the Member States guaranteeing an increase of 3.5% per year over and above inflation. Connectivity and secure communications are worth almost $2.1 billion (1,945 in the proposal) and space security 957 million (933). Robotic and human exploration, on the other hand, has seen a sharp drop compared to what was included in the Director General’s proposal, falling from 3.773 billion to 2.98 billion.
Germany remains the biggest contributor to the budget with €5.1 billion (23.11% of the total), ahead of France (€3.6 billion) and Italy (€3.5 billion). Spain is doubling its contribution compared with 2022, from €920 million to €1.85 billion. The country is now ahead of the United Kingdom, which is reducing its contribution slightly (from €1.878 billion to €1.7 billion). Sweden and Romania are also reducing their contributions compared with 2022. Belgium also tops the billion mark (€1.1).
Canada’s contribution as a partner has jumped by 400% (from €81 million to €408 million).
Strengthening cooperation with the EU and security. Beyond the figures, the ministerial meeting was an opportunity to call for closer cooperation between the Agency and the European Union in order to “increase synergies and take full advantage of ESA’s capabilities to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the European space sector”.
The Ministerial Council also instructed the Agency to follow up the proposal on European Resilience from Space (ERS) (see EUROPE 13760/23).
“ESA’s intergovernmental framework provides the credentials and tools for developing space technologies and systems including for security and defence- and to implement corresponding activities”, stresses the resolution adopted by the ministers (https://aeur.eu/f/jph ).
“ERS is about using the very best in Earth observation, navigation and secure communications, in particular to quickly access a solution and recent images from space. This will provide considerable support for humanitarian purposes, disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation, but it also meets a non-aggressive defence objective”, summarised Mr Aschbacher.
It was decided at the meeting that registrations would remain open until next year to allow participating states to join the new programme.
Discussion on a project for a new security centre. At the Council, ESA and Poland announced that they were considering the creation of a new ESA centre dedicated to security, to be located in Poland. This potential centre would complement existing security and resilience activities and contribute to the effective and coherent development of European space security and resilience capabilities.
The technical requirements, thematic aspects and financing of the potential centre will now be examined. The ESA Council will be informed of the conclusions of this study during 2026.
Arctic Space Centre. In the margins of the Council, the Agency signed a letter of intent with Norway to develop the project for a new ESA Arctic Space Centre, to be based in Tromsø.
According to the Agency, space technologies and services can contribute to monitoring and mitigating climate change, while supporting sustainable development, civil security and energy management in the Arctic region. Tromsø is already home to the mission control centre for the Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS).
ESA and the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) are to set up a joint working group of experts to examine the possibilities for such an Arctic Space Centre. The working group will report by the end of 2026 on the proposed scope of the centre, as well as the thematic priorities, governance model and implementation timetable. Subject to the development of its operational scope, the Arctic Space Centre should work in particular in the fields of Earth observation, navigation and telecommunications, and collaborate closely with stakeholders throughout the Arctic region.
Artemis. In addition, the Director General and the German, French and Italian ministers have announced that the next three astronauts to fly on NASA’s Artemis space exploration programme will be German, French - Thomas Pesquet is expected to be one of them - and Italian. The first will be the German. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)