Europe needs to compete in spaceflight, says France's Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to bolster its space sector to keep pace with the United States and China, during a discussion at the International Space Summit in Paris.

Macron highlighted that Europe's space program remains fragile and needs to step up its efforts to assert its ambition in crewed spaceflight. He set targets for the next decade, aiming for the first European cargo capsule, Nyx, to dock with the International Space Station within two years, a European lunar lander, Argonaut, to land on the Moon's surface in five years, and a first European crewed capsule to launch from Kourou, the European Union's primary spaceport in French Guiana, in ten years.

Moreover, Macron stressed the need for Europe to reduce its reliance on US and Russian services, which currently supply rockets and satellites for communication and surveillance. The European Space Agency (ESA), despite securing a record budget of over €22 billion in 2025, has never sent a crewed mission into space.

Following Macron's speech, Josef Aschbacher, the director general of the European Space Agency, asked whether Europe should be a passenger or a pilot in space exploration. Aschbacher emphasized that countries worldwide are rapidly advancing in space technology, from satellite infrastructure to lunar exploration, and urged Europe to position itself as an indispensable partner with its own capabilities.

Aschbacher added that achieving independence in space exploration would require Europe to invest around €1 billion annually. He pointed out that dependency on US and Russian services comes at a financial and technological cost, noting that the gap with world leaders in the space sector is widening, both in terms of funding and technological advancement.