We asked Dr JOSEF ASCHBACHER, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Paris
HARTMUT BÜHL / NANNETTE CAZAUBON – European News Journal, Paris
The European Space Agency (ESA) has long been deeply involved in the civilian sector. Today, ESA supports the European Union and its Member States in areas such as secure satellite communications, space surveillance and navigation systems, essential to achieving Europe’s ambitions to boost its defence capabilities and gain greater autonomy in a deteriorating geopolitical climate. But ESA now seems ready to go further. At its June 2025 Council meeting, the 23 ESA Member States discussed a strategic initiative aimed at strengthening Europe’s security and resilience through more frequent satellite observations: the European Resilience from Space (ERS) programme, capable of collecting very high-resolution optical and radar data for both civil and military purposes. This would be ESA’s first major dual-use programme, responding to the growing interdependencies between space and defence, as highlighted by European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, in his address to the ESA Council.
European News Journal (ENJ) asked ESA’s Director General Dr Josef Aschbacher about the agency’s changing stance on defence issues, the planned sharp increase in the agency’s budget over the next three years, and Donald Trump’s proposed drastic budget cuts for NASA.
Mr Aschbacher, as Director General of ESA, you are continually adapting the agency to the modern world. Today, ESA, an international organisation created to promote, “exclusively for peaceful purposes, cooperation between European states in space research, technologies and their applications,” is becoming increasingly involved in European defence, a long-time taboo subject for some ESA Member States. How have you managed to convince your partner countries to endorse this change in attitude?
Josef Aschbacher: Most space activities and capabilities are inherently dual-use serving both civilian and military purposes. These include Earth observation, telecommunications, positioning, navigation and timing (PNT), space situational awareness (SSA), space surveillance and tracking (SST), weather forecasting, mapping and launchers.
The European Space Agency has long been involved in dual-use and security-related activities, with programmes such as Copernicus/security services and Galileo/Public Regulated Service (PRS). The reference to “peaceful purposes” in Article II of the ESA Convention forbids aggressive activities that are a threat to peace, or a breach of it, but does not restrict ESA’s capacity to develop defensive dual-use technologies. Furthermore, ESA possesses the legal framework and the secure operational environment to conduct sensitive or classified activities as well as the technical expertise to address defence-related requirements and develop large space infrastructure responding to these needs.
ESA’s involvement in security and defence matters is always based on decisions of its Member States. I believe that the importance of security and defence is increasingly evident, and that the evolution of mentalities among our Member States reflects this shift.
“Space is a new frontier. Materially and politically, we need to be in space. Not least for our defence readiness and for our security. This means European leadership and presence in orbital, cislunar or lunar economy.” Andrius Kubilius addressing the ESA Council in June 2025
Commissioner Kubilius highlighted the importance of close cooperation between the EU and ESA and the ERS project, a network of state-of-the-art Earth observation satellites equipped with computing and artificial intelligence capabilities. This network will enable the collection of high-resolution geo-intelligence data every 30 minutes instead of once a day. Could you explain what this new project, which will require €1billion in funding, can concretely contribute to Europe’s defence and autonomy?
Josef Aschbacher: National defence-related space capabilities unquestionably respond to national interests and the need for sovereignty. It is important to underline that they are primarily the tools of the member states that operate these space-based systems.
However, even if all European national assets were combined, the temporal coverage would not be sufficient by far to meet the needs for very frequent and global coverage. And these needs are rapidly increasing in the current geopolitical framework. In addition, many member States do not have their own satellite infrastructure.
A collective framework, such as ERS (European Resilience from Space)/EOGS (Earth Observation Governmental Service) – can provide an essential supplement to national infrastructure, especially when combined with commercial systems. Sharing resources strengthens Europe’s overall resilience in space and helps prevent fragmentation in this critical domain. European strategic autonomy requires striking the right balance between national, collective, and commercial space systems.
The ESA Ministerial Council meeting in Bremen, Germany, in November 2025 will decide on ESA’s next three-year budget. A 36 percent increase to €23 billion is planned.
Josef Aschbacher: Space is fundamental to economic growth, scientific advances, security, and societal resilience. The need to increase Europe’s space budget is driven by the realisation that Europe must make big investments in space to avoid falling behind and remain globally competitive. Currently, the United States accounts for approximately 60% of global public space funding, China 15%, while Europe contributes only around 10% – roughly one-sixth of the American share. On the other hand, the global space economy, which is worth about €500 billion today, is predicted to increase to €1.8 trillion in the next decade, a growth of 9-10% per year. Europe cannot miss this opportunity to participate in such a fast-growing sector.
In addition, space is strategic. A strong and prosperous Europe depends on a robust and forward-looking space vision, as outlined in our Strategy 2040, and on the necessary funding to bring it to life. The preparation of the proposal for the ESA Ministerial Council is a long-term process being developed with our Member States to meet these objectives.
What about the drastic budget cuts proposed by US President Trump for your most important partner, NASA? How do you intend to continue the programmes that have previously relied on NASA?
Josef Aschbacher: Concerning the impact of NASA’s budget on cooperation projects with ESA, it is important to underline that the US budget approval process is still ongoing and NASA’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026 is not yet finalised. While we continue to closely monitor this process, let me make it clear that most ESA programmes will not be affected by decisions on the NASA budget. NASA has been keeping us regularly informed and we are assessing potential implications and scenarios with our Member States, while maintaining close contact with our long-standing international partners. ESA is making every effort to meet its obligations arising from the international agreements with our US partners.
The preparation of ESA’s funding proposals for the Ministerial conference in November this year will take as the baseline that ongoing projects in cooperation with NASA will continue as agreed many years ago. At the same time, Europe is increasing its resilience and will increase its technological autonomy.
Dr Josef Aschbacher has been ESA’s Director General since March 2021.
Contact: media@esa.int
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