ESA Director calls for €10 billion to secure European space autonomy

At the inaugural International Space Summit in Paris, European Space Agency (ESA) Director Josef Aschbacher called for €10 billion in investment over the next decade to ensure Europe's independence in the space industry. Aschbacher emphasized that without approximately €1 billion in annual funding, Europe risks remaining dependent on foreign providers, noting that the continent could spend €5 billion over ten years just on purchasing astronaut flights from external actors.

The summit, initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron, highlighted the growing global space economy, which is projected to reach $137 billion in 2025. Discussions focused on the necessity of strategic autonomy and 'coopetition'—collaboration with competitors—to manage complex value chains. Key European programs such as Galileo, Copernicus, Clean Sky, and IRIS² are central to this effort, requiring multilateral cooperation between states, agencies, and private enterprises to maintain technological sovereignty against leaders like the United States and NASA.