The European Space Agency’s 2025 budget has dropped below its 2024 level after Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom collectively cut their contributions by €430 million.
During his annual press briefing on 9 January, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher revealed that the ESA budget for 2025 would be €7.68 billion, down from €7.79 billion in 2024. The reduction in the agency’s budget could have been far worse, as all of the ‘big four’ countries, apart from France, significantly reduced their contributions.
In 2024, Italy contributed €881.2 million, and the United Kingdom contributed €448.9 million. In 2025, the countries cut their contributions to €800 million and €320 million, respectively, amounting to a combined cut of €210.1 million. However, Germany was responsible for the largest single reduction, slashing its contribution from €1.17 billion to €951.6 million, representing a substantial cut of €220 million.
The single largest increase came from Poland, which raised its 2024 budget contribution of €47.7 million to €193.4 million in 2025, marking a substantial €145.7 million increase. Switzerland also boosted its contribution significantly, adding €80.2 million to its 2024 allocation of €118.2 million, for a total contribution of €198.4 million to the 2025 ESA budget.
The largest share of the European Space Agency’s 2025 budget, €2.58 billion, was allocated to Earth Observation, accounting for 33.6% of the total, an increase of 3.1% from 2024. Navigation received the second-largest share at 12.5%, followed by Connectivity and Secure Communications with 10.6%, and Space Transportation with 9.8%.
The allocation to Human and Robotic Exploration experienced a notable decrease, dropping from 11.2% of the total budget in 2024 to just 7.8% in 2025. Similarly, Space Transportation saw a significant reduction, falling from 13.3% of the budget in 2024 to 9.8% in 2025, an unsurprising reduction considering the long-delayed introduction of Ariane 6 and the return to flight of Vega C.
