Agence spatiale européenne
The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to space exploration, with 22 member states. Founded in 1975, ESA shapes Europe's space capabilities, ensuring investments in space deliver benefits to European citizens, working across the entire space sector. ESA develops and operates Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications, and astronomy satellites and sends probes to explore the solar system, partnering with agencies like NASA, JAXA and commercial partners like Airbus. Key programs include the development of launch vehicles like Ariane and Vega, the Galileo satellite navigation system, and missions like Rosetta and BepiColombo.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
HummingSat is being developed by Swissto12 in partnership with the European Space Agency.
The additional ESA funding for HummingSat was provided through the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) HummingSat Partnership Project within ESA Connectivity and Secure Communications.
ESA Partnership Projects provide co-funding to satellite operators developing innovative solutions for the telecommunications market.
OHB SE adjusted its three-year financial objectives based on ESA budget results and military space plans from Germany and the EU.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) launched the Microlauncher Competition in May 2020 to advance sovereign launch capabilities with funding provided through the Boost! program of the European Space Agency.
ESA Member States committed €34.9 million to Orbex during the agency’s Ministerial Council meeting in November 2025 as part of its European Launcher Challenge, including €8 million from Denmark.
The ESA and member-state funding will support the development and industrialization of HummingSat, scale up Swissto12’s manufacturing capacity, and support development of new products.
ESA Member States committed €73 million in additional funding for SWISSto12’s HummingSat project at the 2025 ESA Ministerial Council meeting.
On November 28, 2025 officials signed a letter of intent with the European Space Agency to establish a new research and development center in Poland focused on space security and resilience.
The European Space Agency is using its WEF26 participation to connect European space technological capabilities with the needs of governments and international organizations.
The European Space Agency links protection of orbital infrastructure, sustainability of space activities, and satellite-system resilience to national governments and economic actors.
The planned Polish R&D center with ESA will focus on crisis response and dual-use technologies and will complement existing European operations.
A surge in national defense procurement and a tenfold increase in contributions to the European Space Agency contributed to Poland’s 2025 combined annual profit in the space sector.
The Ariel project originated within ESA’s Future Launcher Preparatory Programme (FLPP) under the name Attitude for Reusable and Innovative European Launchers.
The Polish government pledged EUR 731 million to the European Space Agency for the 2026–2028 period.
The European Space Agency will spend $5.45 billion that its governments invested in space transportation.
Approximately EUR 550 million of Poland’s EUR 731 million pledge to ESA for 2026–2028 is allocated to optional programs intended to return the majority of funding to Polish industry through contracts in Earth observation, secure communications, and robotic exploration.
Arkadia Space collaborated closely with ESA propulsion experts during Ariel development and validation.
Samantha Cristoforetti is attending WEF26 in Davos as an ESA representative.
MaiaSpace and Spanish company PLD Space were selected to receive funding through the European Launcher Challenge established by the European Space Agency at its ministerial conference in November.