The European Space Agency (ESA) is fine-tuning its plan for the European Resilience from Space (ERS) program, outlining a €1 billion ($1.15 billion) framework. This initiative more directly connects Earth observation, telecommunications, and navigation with Europe’s increasing defense and security requirements.
The revised proposal is slated for approval by member states at the Ministerial Council in Bremen on November 26-27. This initiative signifies a potential shift in how ESA views its mandate, positioning space systems for dual-use and defense applications, moving beyond purely civilian missions. It also suggests a growing alignment between ESA’s civilian objectives and Europe’s broader security goals.
The ERS is ESA’s contribution to the Earth Observation Governmental Service (EOGS), a service strongly supported by the European Commission to provide Europe with dual-use, defense and security-tailored Earth observation capabilities. While the EOGS budget will not be available until the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in 2028, ESA has the opportunity to initiate the development of its own infrastructure component – the ERS – prior to the Commission’s allocation.
The ERS is envisioned as an integrated system incorporating Earth Observation (EO), Telecommunications (COM), and PNT (positioning, navigation, and timing). The ERS-EO component aims for high reactivity, with revisit times of approximately 30 minutes in both radar and optical capabilities, for dual-use purposes. It will include two key elements.
The first element involves a resource-sharing mechanism, a "space carpooling" system, enabling member states to utilize each other’s satellites during periods of reduced capacity or increased demand, such as during emergencies. This approach is already in practice in Europe, with institutional agreements allowing temporary exchange of space infrastructure among states during events like natural disasters. The second element focuses on integrating new technologies aligned with EOGS objectives, such as high-resolution thermal infrared instruments, onboard artificial intelligence, edge computing, and inter-satellite links, to enhance dual-use capabilities.
The ERS program is structured around three separate budgets, each corresponding to its main components: EO, telecommunications, and navigation. However, a unified architecture is under development. The ERS-EO component has an allocated budget of 750 million euros, while the ERS-NAV component accounts for 250 million euros. The ERS-COM segment consists of two funding tranches, 50 million euros and 150 million euros respectively, both tied to IRIS² and forming part of the 600 million euros that ESA will request from member states for the IRIS² program.
Laurent Jaffart, ESA’s director for communications and secure connectivity, said “IRIS² will be the telecom backbone for all the ERS-EO and ERS-NAV missions.” The system will manage data dissemination from ERS-EO assets, tasking for EO satellites and secure communications relay for PNT missions — “ensuring near-real-time capabilities for both tasking and dissemination” Jaffart told SpaceNews.
The 50 million euro tranche will support upgrades to IRIS² to enable it to function as the telecom backbone for non-telecom missions like ERS-EO and ERS-NAV — for example, satellite tasking beyond line of sight and faster data delivery to users, reducing the cycle from tasking to intelligence, Jaffart explained. The second tranche of 150 million euros will fund technology demonstrations necessary to achieve these capabilities.
The extent of national backing for the ERS program remains uncertain. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher noted during the Brussels event, “We are negotiating and discussing with a lot of countries, but it’s too early to say how these negotiations will translate into subscriptions or not.”
The operational model is also under consideration. Similar to Copernicus, ESA might eventually transfer the developed assets to the European Commission. "I see my task as ESA to develop the space infrastructure," said Aschbacher. "It will be a complex one. It will not be an easy exercise, believe me.”
ESA plans to develop the system architecture and initial capacity first, followed by incremental additions and in-orbit demonstration (IOD) missions. The agency aims to launch the first satellite by the end of 2028, before the start of the next EU budget cycle. Budgets have been structured for gradual implementation, providing nations with flexibility in their contributions considering existing defense allocations.
While relatively small compared to ESA’s total budget request of 22 billion euros, the ERS represents a strategic shift in the agency’s traditional stance. While ESA’s founding convention specifies that it serves "peaceful purposes," without explicitly excluding defense-related work, the agency has historically avoided programs explicitly referencing dual-use technology, focusing instead on science and climate-related missions. The changing geopolitical landscape, coupled with decreased political interest in environmental and climate issues, appears to be driving this recalibration to maintain relevance to member states’ evolving priorities.
Some science programs, including missions like Euclid, Gaia, and the Solar Orbiter, are mandatory, requiring all member states to contribute based on GDP. However, the true strategic maneuvering lies within the optional programs, where countries can selectively invest, influencing which initiatives progress and which do not. Therefore, the significance of the ERS will depend not on its initial funding size but on which member states choose to support it. Their participation will reflect both national priorities and attitudes toward ESA’s evolving role in Europe’s defense architecture – either as a partner in building a collective European space security framework or as a vehicle for advancing individual national strategies.