On 1 and 2 December Lucerne in Switzerland hosted the Conference at Ministerial Level of the European Space Agency (ESA), chaired by Luis de Guindos, Spain’s Minister of Economics, Industry and Competitiveness. In this conference the ministers in charge of space in ESA’s 22 member states plus Slovenia and Canada decided to allocate €10.3 billion to space programs and activities working towards Space 4.0 for a United Space in Europe.

Financing of ESA’s space programs will come from the contributions of its member states, associates and cooperators, and the ESA guarantees a return on this outlay in the form of industrial contracts for the companies of each country, in due proportion to the state’s contribution. This means there is a strong correlation between each state’s ESA contribution and the turnover and employment level of its national space sectors.

The Ministerial Conference also decides on the Agency’s new space programs and associated investments for the coming years. GMV, therefore, as a benchmark space firm actively involved in Europe’s main space programs, was naturally keen to see which decisions would be taken.

As part of ESA’s mandatory program about four billion euros was approved, in which each ESA member state will participate pro rata in proportion to its GDP. Numerous optional programs were also approved involving launchers, space exploration, human space flights, earth observation, telecommunications, navigation, space surveillance and technology, adding up to a total of 6 billion euros. The countries GMV trades in had an upfront role. France and Germany, in particular, took up their usual top two positions in the ranking of contributing countries, followed by the United Kingdom, weighing in third for the first time in ESA’s history. Spain held on to fifth place. Romania, Poland and Portugal increased their inputs as compared with the last ministerial council, coming in twelfth, fifteenth and eighteenth, respectively.

Click here for an account of the main resolutions and decisions taken.

The high level of contributions from the various ESA member states shows once again that space is an attractive and strategic investment, with an especially high socioeconomic value.

The next Council at Ministerial Level will be held in Spain in late 2019.