BREMEN, Germany — The European Space Agency member states have approved a record-breaking budget for the agency's next
three-year period, including an increase in funding for science exploration and dual-use technologies for security and
The budget of nearly 22.1 billion Euros ($25.63 billion) was agreed upon at the European Space Agency's (ESA)
Ministerial Council — a high-level conference of its 23 member states held every three years — which took place in
Bremen, Germany from Nov. 25 to Nov. 27. The funding pledged by the member states will cover the period between 2026 and
2028 and is more than 5 billion Euros ($5.8 billion) higher than that subscribed for the previous budgetary period.
ESA's Director General Josef Aschbacher described the outcome of the summit as "outstanding" and sending an important
message to Europe. The decision comes as Europe takes stock of its critical technologies amid rising geopolitical
tensions and continued chaos around the future direction of ESA's key partner, NASA.
The squabble over NASA's 2026 budget is leaving several joint science and exploration projects in uncertainty as the
vision for the American space agency put forward by President Trump cuts funding for multiple international
Despite the funding increase, ESA's budget is still way below that of NASA. In fact, it is way below even the $18.8
billion offering proposed by the Trump administration for 2026, which presents a reduction of $6 billion compared to the
Still, ESA hopes its new record-breaking budget will help Europe make important steps toward the continent's sovereignty
and autonomy in critical infrastructure including space launch systems and secure communications. These two areas have
been particular pain points for Europe, which has lost its edge in rocket technology to SpaceX's Falcon 9 and has a long
way to go to catch up with the company's Starlink internet-beaming mega-constellation. Investment into launch vehicle
development makes up the highest portion of ESA's new budget — 4.439 billion Euros ($5.15 billion) over the next three
years, up 1.604 billion ($1.86 billion) compared to the triennial budget agreed in 2022.
Boost to science amid NASA chaos
Most importantly, ESA member states, for the first time in years, increased their spending on science missions, a sharp
diversion from the Trump vision for NASA, which made massive sacrifices in science funding.
ESA will have 3.787 billion Euros ($4.39 billion) for its science project in the coming budgetary period, up 600 million
Euros ($696 million) compared to the 2022 budget. The member states also pledged an additional 328 million Euros ($380
million) to ESA's PRODEX program, which develops innovative science experiments and technologies.
"We have managed to come out from a relatively flat curve and we will increase [the science funding] in 2026, 2027 and
2028 by 3.5 percent per year in addition to inflation," Aschbacher said in a press briefing. "This is a very important
signal that with this budget, we can really focus on the backbone of the ESA program, which is the science program."
ESA executives hinted during the summit that the agency intends to become more self-reliant in the future. ESA has
suffered painful setbacks in its international collaborations and although it still continues to seek partnerships, it
will work toward securing all technologies "on the critical path" domestically, one ESA executive told Space.com on the
sidelines of the conference.
The life-hunting ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover is a prime example of such a fraught collaboration. First conceived as
a partnership with NASA, Europe's first Martian rover became a joint project with Russia in 2012 after budget cuts
imposed by the Obama administration forced NASA to withdraw. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, however, forced ESA
to halt that partnership just a few months before a planned launch.
ESA member states subsequently had to invest an additional 360 million Euros ($417 million US) into the mission to build
a new landing platform to replace the one made by Russia. NASA at that time stepped back in, offering to pay for a
launcher and provide a few components not available in Europe. Trump's budget proposal, however, cut that funding,
leaving ESA once again in uncertainty. In the latest twist of events, Aschbacher said NASA had confirmed its commitment
to the mission in a letter received on the eve of the Bremen meeting.
A further 19 science missions could be hit by the Trump-proposed budget cuts. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
(LISA) gravitational wave observatory, the Venus orbiter EnVision and the proposed X-ray telescope New Athena all count
on significant NASA contributions.
ESA's Director of Science Carol Mundell told Space.com that ESA is working on a rescue plan for all three of those
missions and estimates it would have to invest an additional 900 million Euros ($1.043 billion) over a ten-year period
to get them all off the ground without NASA. That funding is not part of the latest science budget as most hope that at
least some of the cancelled collaborations will be reinstated by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
During its upcoming budget period, ESA wants to develop a proposal for a mission to land on the pole of Saturn's moon
Enceladus to search for life under its icy crust. That mission would launch in 2042 in order to reach Enceladus in 2053
when the positions of Saturn and Enceladus are favorable.
New future for Orion Service Module and Earth Return Orbiter
ESA's budget for human and robotic space exploration received only a minor boost compared to 2022 and will have just a
little under 3 billion Euros ($3.5 billion) to work with in the next three years.
Most of ESA's exploration activities, including its presence at the International Space Station, are done in cooperation
with NASA. But the agency's Director for Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander told Space.com that here,
too, ESA would work to strengthen its position.
"The three billion of support for exploration activities will serve to increase our own capabilities," Neuenschwander
said. "It's very simple. If you want to be a partner sitting at the table and not to be on the menu, you need your own
ESA develops the service module, which provides power, propulsion and atmosphere regeneration for NASA's Orion
spacecraft, designed to take Artemis astronauts to the moon. That program, however, is another victim of Trump's
proposed NASA budget cuts. Currently, NASA expects to discontinue Orion and its launching rocket, the Space Launch
System, after the Artemis 6 mission in the early 2030s and replace the combo with commercial vehicles. Neuenschwander
said ESA would study options to convert the service module into a multi-purpose space tug to keep the technology in use.
The new funding will also allow ESA to repurpose the Earth Return Orbiter which was to bring back to Earth samples
collected by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The Mars Sample Return mission was axed by the Trump administration, and
although it might be reinstated by the Congress, ESA's plan is to use the technology for a new Mars-orbiting mission.
Called ZefERO, the mission would launch in 2032, study Martian geology and atmosphere, and serve as a communication
relay for rovers on the Red Planet's surface.
The agency will also continue with the development of components of the Lunar Gateway, a space station foreseen to orbit
the moon from 2027, and the lunar lander called Argonaut, designed to place around 3,300 lb (1,500 kilograms) of cargo
At the conference, Aschbacher announced that the first European astronaut to fly to the moon with one of the future
Artemis missions will be from Germany, ESA's currently largest budget contributor.
Further programs that received significant funding increases include Earth observation, connectivity and secure
communications and navigation. ESA previously announced plans to develop a low-Earth-orbit navigation constellation to
serve as a back-up to Europe's alternative to GPS — the Galileo global navigation satellite system.
The member states also approved the European Resilience from Space (ERS) program, which will include communications and
Earth observation satellites serving defense-related purposes. The ERS program received $1.39 billion in funding from
the member states, many of which have previously announced substantial boosts to domestic spending on space defense