Credit: ESA
The Dutch government has decided to contribute €344.3 million to European Space Agency (ESA) over the next three years. The government also announced that, with the addition of its national space programmes, the country would spend a total of €550 million from 2026 to 2028.
On 10 October, the country’s Council of Ministers approved a proposal from Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans concerning the country’s spending on space programmes for the next three years.
The proposal, which builds on the country’s Long-Term Space Agenda, adopted in January 2024, begins by noting that the availability of satellite data, products, and services for both civil and military use is becoming increasingly vulnerable. Nevertheless, it recommends that the Netherlands maintain its current spending levels without any significant increase.
“The Cabinet has chosen to maintain the same nominal level of €170 million for ESA programmes as during the 2022 conference.”
The proposal outlines a three-year budget of €344.3 million, which includes €69.9 million for basic activities and the European launch base in Kourou, €170 million for ESA programmes, and €104.4 million in mandatory contributions for the ESA Science Programme. The €344.3 million represents a slight increase in total spending from the €319.7 million spent over the preceding three years, with a €10.9 million increase for ESA’s basic activities and the European launch base in Kourou, and a €13.7 million increase for its mandatory Science Programme contribution.
However, over the 2023 to 2025 period, the country also made an additional one-off contribution of €53.6 million. This brought the combined spending for that period to €373.3 million, which is €29 million more than the proposed amount for 2026 to 2028.
The most significant contributions to ESA programmes, apart from its mandatory Science Programme contribution, will be €40 to 50 million for ESA Earth Observation programmes, €40 to 45 million for ESA’s launcher programmes, and €25 to 30 million for ESA Technology programmes. The proposal outlines the country making only a minimal contribution to the agency’s exploration programmes, “allowing ongoing obligations to be settled while maintaining involvement in the programme council.”