27th of November 2025 marked the last day of this year’s European Space Agency (ESA) Council at Ministerial Level (CM25). This meeting represents more than a procedural checkpoint.

From access to space to climate monitoring, from exploration to secure communications, CM25 sets the direction for the next decade. In this article, we are going to explore how today´s priorities are going to shape tomorrow´s strategies.

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Why competitive access to space matters

One message from CM25 was clear: Europe needs a more competitive and resilient way to reach space. Demand for launch is rising quickly, global competition is intensifying, and Europe must secure its autonomous access to orbit. For this reason, CM25 highlighted a major cultural shift in how Europe approaches launch capability, moving from a fully agency-driven model to a more market-oriented ecosystem.

This shift is reflected in the European Launcher Challenge, first announced in 2023. The initiative aims to stimulate a competitive European launch market by allowing ESA to procure launch services from commercial providers instead of developing every launcher internally. The goal is to accelerate innovation, diversify launch options and strengthen Europe’s overall resilience.

As part of this approach, ESA has preselected several European commercial launch companies as challengers. These include Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg, MaiaSpace, PLD Space and Orbex from the United Kingdom. Their participation reflects a growing industrial landscape that can provide Europe with multiple independent launch solutions.

Also, a clear example of this new mindset is Themis, Europe’s first reusable first-stage demonstrator. Themis represents an important step toward future reusable launch systems and supports Europe’s ambition to reach operational reusability in the early 2030s. Although still in testing, it symbolises Europe’s move toward faster, more cost-effective and commercially aligned launch solutions.

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Space Safety: the foundation for Europe's leadership in orbit

As space grows ever more congested and geopolitically contested, Europe confronts a pivotal challenge: ensuring secure, sustainable, and autonomous access to orbit and safeguarding its activities for the coming decade and beyond.

CM25 made it clear that sustainability and safety are no longer optional, they are strategic imperatives for autonomy, competitiveness and stability. ESA’s CM25 showcased Europe´s capabilities: we can predict space weather, defend against asteroid threats, and work towards the removal of debris in orbit. Nevertheless, these capabilities must be funded, industrialized, and scaled. Europe also leads in space sustainability policies, pushing for debris mitigation, reusable launch systems, and ethical frameworks for space exploration. Concrete examples of Europe’s policy leadership include the European Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST) initiative, which enhances debris monitoring and mitigation, and the EU’s Space Traffic Management (STM) stakeholder mechanism, designed to address operator needs while ensuring sustainability remains at the core of space operations.

Additionally, ESA’s push for a circular economy in space, where satellites are responsibly serviced, reused, or removed. This aligns with OKAPI:Orbits’ mission: helping operators fly safer, more sustainable missions in increasingly crowded orbits.

Moving forward, Europe´s leadership will depend on turning these ambitions into operational reality. By investing in space safety and sustainability today, Europe can secure its autonomy and strengthen its position as a global leader in space. ESA has asked its 23 member states to commit around €22 billion over the next three years to fund launches, satellites, and research programmes, an +30.2% increase from €16.9 billion in the 2023–2025 period. Following two days of ministerial talks in Bremen, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher noted that it was the first time in the organisation’s 50-year history that member states had fully met the agency’s funding request.

The agreement underscores the growing importance of space, both as a rapidly expanding economic sector and as a cornerstone of security and defence. Europe’s renewed focus is also driven by a desire for greater strategic autonomy from the United States, a priority heightened since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Europe’s space budget now stands at €22 billion (equivalent to 0.11% of its GDP) while the United States invests nearly €80 billion, or about 0.32% of its GDP. This shows that Europe still has a lot to catch up on.

In addition, the proposal includes about 1.2 billion euros for European Resilience from Space (ERS), a new initiative focused primarily on the initial development of a constellation of optical and radar imaging satellites for security applications, including defense. ERS also includes support for the IRIS² secure broadband constellation and low Earth orbit navigation satellites.

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Securing Europe´s future in orbit and beyond

In today’s geopolitical and technological landscape, CM25 reinforced one clear message: Earth observation (EO) and navigation remain pillars of Europe’s leadership in space. Germany signalled strong investment in these areas with an increase of 45.8%, aiming to secure Europe’s role in climate monitoring, security, and PNT technologies (systems that provide positioning, navigation and timing services). For example, Copernicus, already the world’s most advanced civilian EO system, must be extended with long-term continuity missions to maintain this edge.

At the same time, navigation programs like LEO-PNT, OpSTAR, and FutureNAV are becoming essential for autonomous driving, aviation, secure timing, critical infrastructure, and defense. This is not optional infrastructure: it is foundational for Europe’s autonomy and resilience.

Also beyond Earth, Europe must remain a credible partner in lunar and Mars exploration. Germany intends to continue its significant engagement in human spaceflight and systems like the European Service Module. Exploration is no longer just about science: it is about influence. If Europe steps back, it risks losing both technological leadership and global competitiveness.

Ultimately, Germany entered CM25 with the strongest expectations of any ESA member state. Not only because it hosted the conference in Bremen, but because it aims to lead. By investing heavily in EO, navigation, and exploration, Germany is shaping a future where Europe remains competitive, autonomous, and strategically secure.

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Germany signals leadership with record ESA contribution

Germany will remain ESA’s largest financial contributor, aiming for over €5 billion in the next funding period (an increase of 43% from the previous cycle despite budgetary pressures). Additionally, Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space of Germany, Dorothee Bär emphasized that Germany will boost its financial engagement and send a “positive signal” about long-term involvement in space.

The strategic priorities are clear:

• Launchers and competitive access to space: Germany backs the shift toward private innovation through the European Launcher Challenge.
• Earth observation leadership: Reinforcing Copernicus and climate data systems as national priorities.
• Navigation and timing: Investments in LEO-PNT and OpSTAR to strengthen resilience
• Exploration: Continued support for lunar systems and astronaut participation in global missions.
• Space security and resilience: Strong endorsement of ESA’s “European Resilience from Space” initiative to safeguard critical infrastructure.

In short, Germany’s strategy blends financial strength with long-term vision, positioning Europe to achieve autonomy, enhance competitiveness, and lead in space.

Conclusion: Europe’s next decade in space begins now

To sum up, CM25 has shown that Europe is ready to take bold steps in access to space, security, climate monitoring, exploration, and sustainability. In this context, space safety emerges as a cornerstone of Europe’s strategy. More traffic, more satellites, and more missions mean that conjunction analyses, maneuver optimization, end-of-life compliance, SSA and STM integration, are no longer optional, they are essential. ESA’s commitment to sustainability and orbital circularity validates the work happening across the industry and sets a clear direction for the future.

With this said, OKAPI:Orbits focuses on making space operations safer and more sustainable. If you would like to learn how our advanced SSA and collision avoidance solutions can support your mission, we invite you to book a meeting with us to discuss your needs.

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