EU, ESA sign €9bn budget agreement
June 25, 2021
By Chris Forrester
The European Space Agency (ESA) and EU Commission have agreed a financing budget for the next seven years.
The agreement is comprehensive and brings together the 27-nation EU and 22-nation ESA memberships who have created a seven-year Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA) which will cover the work of the ESA and its funding for a number of significant projects.
Signed on June 22nd, the agreement also involved the Commission’s newly established EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and which now covers the evolving development of the EU’s Galileo positioning system (24 new satellites), 28 scientific craft (including the Copernicus Earth observation satellites) and 21 launch campaigns during 2021-2027 for Galileos and Copernicus.
The structure of the new agreement potentially preserves the membership of ESA members who are not part of the EU – notably the UK. However, the UK’s role has not yet been agreed.