ESA leaders greenlight $1.6 billion for new ‘non-aggressive’ space security initiative

The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved a new three-year, €1.35 billion ($1.6 billion) spending plan that for the first time funds an initiative to support space defense programs across its 23 member states.

“The clear mandate for use of space applications for non-aggressive defence purposes signifies an historic change for ESA. … Non-dependence in technology is key to advancing Europe’s ambitions in space, alongside its guaranteed access to space,” the agency said in a Nov. 27 statement following the vote by its ruling Council of Ministers in Bremen, Germany.

For the first 50 years of its existence, ESA fashioned itself as purely a civil-focused space agency akin to NASA and other national space programs and disavowed any connection to European or member state defense activities. However, over the past year that position has shifted, as European governments have grown more concerned with threats to their space systems especially from Russia and about their reliance on a less-reliable United States for key military space capabilities.

Read more at Breaking Defense