This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through Mar 28, 2025. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here.
“We are planning on increasing the resilience of Europe,” says ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.
The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to issue its invitation to tender for the European Launcher challenge next week, the agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, said March 20 following a meeting of the ESA council.
The launcher challenge is a central effort in Europe to strengthen its independent access to space by helping finance new entrants. Companies have to co-fund the effort.
ESA plans to evaluate bids due about six weeks later, around midyear. Eligible ideas will be turned into program proposals that will be brought to the ESA ministers for funding. Contracts will not be placed until after the ministerial meeting in November once financial contributions have been committed, added Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA’s acting director for space transportation.
European autonomy is space has become an even hotter issue in recent months amid concerns about the transatlantic relationship and cooperation there, as well as the wider competitive landscape in space.
“We are planning on increasing the resilience of Europe,” Aschbacher said. That ambition is starting to shape discussions for the November ministerial meeting, he indicated, where some existing programs may be enhanced and others may be added.
The ESA council also signed off on a new document, the agency’s Strategy 2040, that is intended to guide decisions at the upcoming ministerial meeting. “Through a focused set of goals and targeted investments, Strategy 2040 positions ESA to unlock new markets, enhance Europe’s resilience and ensure that European space efforts continue to serve as an engine of innovation, technological leadership and societal progress,” ESA Council Chair Renato Krpoun wrote in the document.
One of the sections of the 11-page document deals with strengthening European autonomy and resilience by, for instance, stimulating the low-Earth-orbit economy and building next-generation position, navigation and timing; Earth-observation; and secure communication systems.
Related Content
