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The ESA's 2026 plans include the first launch of the Ariane 64 rocket.
The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch 65 new missions and satellites in 2026, including 48 in Earth observation and 17 in robotic and human exploration.
The summit approved the largest funding contribution in ESA's history, exceeding 22 billion euros in mandatory and voluntary programs.
The European Space Agency committed to a total budget of $25.67 billion for the next three years, the highest funding level in ESA’s history.
Before Ariane 6's first commercial flight in March 2023, ESA contracted SpaceX to launch two Galileo satellites in September 2024.
In November 2025, ESA secured record funding for its next three years of operations, with 24 of 27 countries increasing their contributions.
Avio expects to receive over €600 million in new contracts based on the results of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ministerial Council meeting in late November.
The UK’s contributions to ESA dropped from €1.878 billion to €1.706 billion, a reduction of almost 10% before inflation adjustments.
Germany was the biggest contributor to the ESA's total budget with more than five billion euros, followed by France with 3.7 billion euros.
The ESA's 23 member states committed five billion euros more than 2022's budget, representing almost all of the 22.2-billion-euro funding sought by the agency.
The Netherlands plans to increase its ESA spending by 25%, contingent on government approval.
Canada plans to increase its ESA program spending from €98 million in 2022 to €407.7 million.
The ESA ministerial meeting in Bremen confirmed Italy's prominent role by approving a record budget of approximately 22 billion euros, with 3.5 billion euros as Italy's contribution.
The resolution to advance Europe's future through space was approved by representatives of ESA member countries during the ministerial council held in Bremen from November 26 to 27.
The European Space Agency expects the inaugural flight of its reusable Space Rider vehicle in 2028.
The European Space Agency (ESA) Council unanimously approved an unprecedented funding increase of 5.646 billion euros for the agency's mandatory activities from 2026 to 2030.
At the conclusion of the ESA Council Meeting, the 23 member states committed €22.1 billion Euros, marking the largest contributions at the Ministerial level.
Italy is the third largest contributor to the ESA ministerial and will host the next ministerial meeting in 2025.
On 20 November, ESA announced plans to expand its EAC facilities with a new building next to the existing one.
The Smile mission successfully completed its ten-month Assembly, Integration and Testing phase from November 2024 to September 2025 at ESA’s technical centre, ESTEC, in the Netherlands.