Europe Looks to Space Resilience, Autonomy Amid Global Changes

The European Union and the European Space Agency are emphasizing the need for European readiness to use and protect space assets and ensure autonomy for access to space as global events create a “perfect storm” for Europe. One factor for ESA is the Trump Administration’s proposed deep cuts to NASA’s budget that would impact many NASA-ESA projects. ESA is “doing its homework” and reinforcing relationships with other countries like Canada, India, Japan and the UAE.

The EU and ESA are separate entities with different but overlapping memberships. The two work together as partners on the EU’s satellite systems: Copernicus for earth observation and Galileo for navigation. The EU provides funding and defines requirements, while ESA oversees design and development and provides technical support.

Speaking at the 334th ESA Council meeting in Paris, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius said Europe is in a “perfect storm in our security and defence readiness situation” with the war in Ukraine, growing Russian aggressiveness, and “the forthcoming American withdrawal from Europe,” though not NATO.

“We need to realign our priorities for space. We need Space for Defence and Defence of Space.” — Andrius Kubilius, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space

That means regaining autonomous access to space, the ability to permanently service satellites in orbit, defending satellite systems from physical threats, strengthening space situational awareness, and working toward monitoring radio frequency interference. Cooperation between the EU and ESA is “of the essence.”

At a press briefing today following the conclusion of the ESA Council meeting, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher called the speech “very powerful and very constructive” coming as ESA prepares for its next Ministerial Council meeting, CM25, in November. Key government officials from each of ESA’s 23 member states will meet in Bremen, Germany to set ESA’s budget and program priorities for the next three years.

Much has changed for Europe since the last Council Meeting as the war in Ukraine continues and the Trump Administration reassesses America’s international posture including civilian space partnerships.

ESA is one of NASA’s oldest and closest partners, but President Trump’s FY2026 budget proposal for NASA would upend their cooperation both in human and robotic spaceflight.

The budget proposal calls for scaling down operations on the U.S.-Russian-European-Japanese-Canadian International Space Station earlier than expected, terminating the U.S.-European-Japanese-Canadian-UAE lunar Gateway space station being built as part of the Artemis program, and ending use of Artemis’s Orion spacecraft after two more flights. ESA provides Orion’s Service Module.  NASA’s science budget would be cut by 47 percent. Among the programs that would end are the NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return mission and NASA’s participation in ESA’s Rosalind Franklin/ExoMars rover and ESA’s Envision Venus probe.

Aschbacher noted that budget negotiations are ongoing in the U.S. and decisions have not been finalized. Meanwhile ESA is “doing our homework” to ensure investments already made by ESA member states “are utilized in the best possible way.”

The ESA member states at this week’s meeting “asked us to make sure Europe is increasing its resilience and autonomy for its own purposes.”  They passed a resolution enabling the European Resilience from Space (ERS) project to be considered at CM25. ERS will be a system of systems incorporating earth observation, navigation, and communications in concert with the EU, which calls it the Earth Observation Governmental Service (EOGS) system.

Resilience and autonomy also includes reinforcing relationships with other countries. They highlighted Canada, India, and Japan, as well as the UAE, South Korea, and the new African Space Agency as examples. Aschbacher just visited the Canadian Space Agency, the first ESA Director General to do so in 25 years.  Asked whether ESA plans to initiate new cooperation with China, he replied that isn’t “on our horizon” for now.