About ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organization which doesn't belong to the institutions of the European Union. Established in 1975, ESA took over from two previous European space organisations, ESRO (dedicated to research) and ELDO (dedicated to launcher development).

Belgium is founding member of ESA. The Agency is governed by a Council where the 22 Member States are represented, and managed by a Director General assisted by a team of directors, as well as by a multinational staff hosted in 7 establishments throughout Europe and several facilities in the world.

ESA's yearly budget amounts some 6.7 billion euro (ref.: 2020). For the period of reference (2019-2023), Belgium invests 1.250 billion in ESA and its programmes.

ESA programmes and activities are split between mandatory activities (to which all Member States contribute according to their GNP ratio) and optional activities (to which Member States and cooperating States contribute on a voluntary basis). Mandatory activities mainly include activities funded through the ESA general budget (education, communication, generic technology development) and the ESA science programme. Among the optional activities, some programmes aim at developing and deploying space systems (Earth observation, telecommunication, navigation), others provide a suitable framework to fund or co-fund initiatives from research centres or industry.

ESA is thus an international intergovernmental organization dedicated to its Member States, their scientists and their industry, and at the same time, a space agency at the service of the citizens to whom it addresses its communication and educational initiatives.