The war in Ukraine has shown the importance of space assets, both for intelligence gathering and secure communications. Europe is also looking to cut its reliance on U.S. companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
In one example of the shift, the ESA’s new dual-use Earth observation project dubbed the European Resilience from Space, could have both civilian and military applications.
Poland played a leading role in pushing for the ESA to be more involved in defense, the agency’s Director General Josef Aschbacher told reporters. Warsaw and the organization are currently discussing setting up a new ESA centre in Poland that would focus on security.
The budget includes €3.4 billion for Earth observation, €2.1 billion for secure communications and €900 million to develop European rocket launchers. That’s a significant increase compared to the previous budget of nearly €17 billion.
“This is amazing,” Aschbacher said of the larger budget.
Germany is the lead contributor, at about €5 billion, with France and Italy following at more than €3 billion each.