PARIS — The head of the European Space Agency wants better coordination of overall public spending on space in Europe, echoing the recommendations of a recent report.
Speaking at the World Space Business Week conference here Sept. 16, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher noted that the huge existing gap in spending between Europe and the United States in space is complicated further by spending in Europe that is spread among a wider range of agencies.
Aschbacher said that European governments overall spent 11.4 billion euros ($12.7 billion) on space in 2023, compared to 64 billion euros by U.S. government agencies such as NASA and the Space Force. “There’s a factor of six between the European and the American investment on the public side in space. A factor of six is a lot,” he said. “To catch up is enormous.”
He noted that ESA was able to secure a 17% increase in its budget, adjusted for inflation, at its 2022 ministerial conference, which set funding levels for three years. “This is a big step change, but still, we need to go much faster.”
A report by the European Commission released Sept. 9 reached a similar conclusion. The Future of European Competitiveness report, also known as the Draghi report because it was led by former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi, quoted similar spending figures for the United States and Europe in space. It added that China’s public spending on space is growing and will exceed European spending by 2030.
Increased ESA funding alone, though is not sufficient, Aschbacher argued. “We have a lot of fragmentation in Europe, and this is something that needs to be addressed,” he said. ESA accounts for 60% of public spending on space in Europe, with the rest from the European Commission, national governments and organizations like weather forecasting agency Eumetsat.
“This is something that really needs to be tackled,” he said, calling it a “bottleneck” for growth of space in Europe. “This relationship between the European Space Agency and the European Union is the top priority for the years to come.”
Asked how he would tackle the issue, he cited the need for greater coordination between ESA and the European Commission. That has been done on specific efforts, like the Galileo satellite navigation program and Copernicus program of Earth observation satellites. In those cases, he said it combined the commission’s “enormous strength” in policy and strategy and ESA’s technological expertise.
That cooperation is governed by a multi-year funding agreement that runs through 2027. “But what I am looking for is more of a long-term stable agreement that goes, I would say, almost indefinitely,” he said. “This is certainly something I’m looking forward to working with the next European Commission.”
The Draghi report also criticized a “complex and fragmented governance model” for European space, noting the roles of ESA, European Commission and national agencies. “Overall, the total European institutional funding of space programs is not only a mere 20% of the US level, but it is also highly fragmented,” it concluded.
However, the Draghi report recommended far broader changes than just improved coordination between ESA and the Commission. Specifically, the report recommended ESA do away with its geographic return, or georeturn, policy where member states are guaranteed contracts in proportion to the funding they provide for specific programs
“The policy is a source of economic inefficiency and harms the competitiveness of the European space industry,” it concluded, adding that it is “particularly inadequate in light of the fast growth and development of New Space actors, a fast global space race and the emergence of powerful global private players in the space domain.”
ESA officials, while acknowledging the challenges of georeturn, have been hesitant to endorse doing away with it, instead endorsing changes only on the margins. Member states have also warned that doing away with georeturn could drastically disrupt ESA activities and discourage some countries form contributing to programs.
The Draghi report made other recommendation related to European space governance. That included giving the European Commission a seat on ESA’s governing council, making the European Union effectively another member state. It also recommended “a deeper alignment of the ESA’s governance frameworks with EU procurement, financial and security rules.”
Improving European space governance will require new relationships. The European commissioner who had been responsible for space has been Thierry Breton, but he announced Sept. 16 his abrupt resignation, reportedly out of disputes with the commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, about his roles on the next commission after this summer’s election.
Von der Leyen announced Sept. 17 the new slate of commissioners, with Andrius Kubilius, a former prime minister of Lithuania, responsible for defense and space.
