The European Space Agency (ESA) has unveiled additional details concerning its comprehensive security program, seeking over one billion euros in funding at the upcoming ministerial conference. During the European Resilience from Space Conference in Brussels on October 28th, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher elaborated on the European Resilience from Space (ERS) program, initially announced earlier this year. The program encompasses capabilities in imaging, navigation, and communications, tailored for security-related applications ranging from defense to crisis management.
The impetus behind the program stems from escalating security threats to Europe, particularly those emanating from Russia, alongside a growing recognition that the continent can no longer depend solely on the United States for defense. According to Aschbacher, "In this moment of rapid change, there is a critical need to synchronize European initiatives by aligning space for defense competencies, avoiding duplication and pooling resources for scale. We still remain too fragmented to guarantee Europe genuine, comprehensive and autonomous space resilience.”
ERS stands as a pivotal proposal within the package that ESA will present to its member states at the ministerial conference in Bremen, Germany, scheduled for November 26–27. Aschbacher indicated at an October 23 briefing that he was seeking “a bit above one billion” euros for ERS. During an online briefing at the Brussels conference, he specified the program's total value at 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion).
The most substantial component resides in Earth observation, where ESA intends to allocate 750 million euros to initiate the development of a constellation of imaging satellites. This endeavor will commence with a “virtual” system integrating existing satellites operated by individual European countries. "We start with pooling and sharing existing capabilities," he explained. "If some satellite systems are used at 30% to 40% of their capacity for national needs, the other 60% could be utilized by others, in exchange for other countries doing the same.”
However, this approach alone would fall short of addressing Europe's requirements. While the combined national systems could provide roughly a dozen images of specific locations daily, Aschbacher stated, "what you really want is a very high frequency of observation: every 30 minutes." Achieving this necessitates a novel constellation of optical and radar imaging satellites, potentially incorporating other sensors like thermal infrared or radio-frequency monitoring systems, alongside technologies such as edge computing and intersatellite links. ESA's objective is to launch the initial demonstration satellites by 2028.
ESA is also requesting 250 million euros for LEO PNT, a low Earth orbit constellation of positioning, navigation, and timing satellites designed to augment the Galileo system and enhance resilience against interference. The third component concentrates on communications, building upon the IRIS² secure connectivity constellation. Laurent Jaffart, ESA’s director of connectivity and secure communications, noted that 50 million euros would fund early-phase studies, while 150 million euros would support demonstrations. This funding forms part of a larger 600 million euro request for IRIS² at the ministerial. "ERS Earth observation will run in parallel with the definition of the IRIS² evolution," Jaffart stated. "We’re looking at IRIS² as the secure communication backbone for all Earth observation missions, and also for the PNT missions.”
According to Aschbacher, the requested funding for ERS represents merely the initial phase in developing a complete system in collaboration with the European Commission. “The ERS development and investments are a precursor or first pilot, the first tangible deliverable on the ESA side to a joint undertaking that we will build up together with the European Commission.” ERS would emulate past partnerships between ESA and the European Commission, such as Galileo and Copernicus, where ESA spearheads development, and the commission manages operations. These subsequent phases remain undefined.
The timing of ESA’s ministerial conference is "perfect," said Aschbacher. He also added, that it allows early ERS work to begin while the commission finalizes its next MFF. “ESA is needed to step in and take on some of the challenges in this very fast-moving environment,” he said.
However, Aschbacher noted that European autonomy in space security has limitations. When asked if ERS satellites would be “ITAR-free,” he said that was unlikely. “Having a completely ITAR-free satellite for Europe is very much desirable, but I think very far away from reality,” he concluded.