Paris (France) (AFP) – Europe can develop manned flights at a "very reasonable" cost, said Wednesday the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) Josef Aschbacher, one week before the international space summit in Paris where European exploration will be at the heart of the debates in the face of the disengagement of the United States.

Published on: 02/09/2026 - 17:15

Until now, human flights were not a priority for the ESA, which relied on the United States for its astronauts' access to space and for part of its lunar exploration ambitions.

“If we were to add human flight capability and a little more ambition in terms of robotics activities,” the increase in the ESA budget would be “very moderate,” Mr. Aschbacher said during a meeting with the Association of Aerospace Journalists (AJPAE).

He refused to give figures, but according to a first estimate, the additional effort could represent around 10% of the ESA's current budget. “A very, very reasonable cost,” said the director general of the ESA.

Europe participated in the American Artemis program, which aims to bring astronauts back to the Moon, in particular by providing the service module for the Orion spacecraft which transports the crews. It was also to provide several elements of Gateway, a small space station which was to be installed around the Moon to serve as a stopover for astronauts and a relay for missions to the lunar surface.

But Washington fundamentally overhauled its lunar program in 2026, putting an end to Gateway in its initial form and now favoring a presence directly on the Moon.

This change pushed Europeans to question their dependence on the United States and their own role in lunar exploration.

It is in this context that ESA member states convened a ministerial conference in December in Rome to discuss the future of European exploration.

“The other two countries that currently allow manned flights are China and Russia, which is not an option for us. India is also preparing manned flights, but Europe does not yet have this capacity,” stressed Josef Aschbacher.

It is “one of the subjects which will be at the heart of the discussions of the space summit” desired by French President Emmanuel Macron which will be held in Paris on September 9 and 10.

© 2026 AFP

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.