European Solution: ESA Chief Calls for Space Collaboration

Europe excels is in technology Esa Chief: "We Offer the European Solution"

2026-02-17 Source: dpa 1 min Reading Time

Europe has begun its race to catch up in space. In the coming years, substantial sums of billions will flow. Are European states tackling this together?

The head of the European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher, advises enhanced collaboration in building space infrastructure. “We are offering the European solution. This means we invite states to integrate their national capacities being developed into a European system,” said the ESA director general to the German Press Agency at the Munich Security Conference (MSC).

The changing threat landscape serves as an impetus to utilise space technologies for defence and security. It was clarified during the Ministerial Council Conference in November in Bremen that ESA can also work in the areas of defence and security.

In November last year, ESA celebrated a record budget of nearly €22.3 billion. Earlier, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) announced that Germany aims to spend a total of €35 billion on space projects and a security architecture in space by 2030: satellite constellations, ground stations, and secured transportation capabilities into space.

The USA has invested much more in space

Aschbacher advocates for collaboration—“pooling and sharing”—in Europe's push to catch up. The goal should be to ensure that a German satellite can be integrated into a European framework that can then be shared with other countries.

ben-leyland-jo-20hambro-750x422v1 (Source: JO Hambro)

“Where Europe truly excels is in technology, the engineers we have, and the industry that we have developed over 50 years. It is world-class and really strong,” he noted.

Deficits have emerged because Europe has invested less money in space compared to others. Aschbacher stated: “In America, six times as much is spent on space from public funds as in Europe. When you have six times as much money, of course, you can do six times as much.”

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