PRAGUE, May 23, 2026, 00:04 (CEST)
- ESA chief Josef Aschbacher warns Europe could lag the United States without a quicker push for independent human spaceflight capability.
- NASA’s move to pull back from the Lunar Gateway project in favor of building a Moon base has rattled European exploration ambitions, prompting the warning.
- The next hurdles for ESA are political: discussions set for June, a ministerial gathering in December, and the EU budget cycle for 2028-2034.
Josef Aschbacher, head of the European Space Agency, is again urging Europe to step up its game in human spaceflight—otherwise, he warned, the continent will remain in the backseat behind the U.S. Speaking Thursday at the GLOBSEC forum in Prague, Aschbacher told attendees that only “big changes” can prevent Europe from falling further behind. The session was pitched as a look at Europe’s efforts to stay in the space race. Payload
Timing is key here. Back in March, NASA announced it would put the Lunar Gateway project—a planned Moon-orbiting station—on hold, pivoting instead to focus on building a base directly on the lunar surface. That shift hits European efforts hard, since the work is tied to the U.S.-led Artemis program. NASA has said it’ll look to reuse partner commitments where it can, but the move now has ESA questioning how much say it actually holds over missions it’s backing and helping to build.
Aschbacher’s warning comes just ahead of several critical European funding milestones. In a post this week, he noted ESA has a packed calendar: a council in June, an international space summit set for September, a December meeting focused on exploration, plus the full ministerial council out in 2028. Meanwhile, the European Union is hammering out its budget framework for 2028-2034.
“Europe has become too exposed” to choices made elsewhere, Aschbacher said in a LinkedIn post Monday. He argued that independent human spaceflight—the capacity to launch people into space on Europe’s own hardware, not dependent on another nation’s rockets, capsules, or mission planning—was “not a luxury.” LinkedIn
Speaking at GLOBSEC, Aschbacher told Politico that Europe should consider doubling or even tripling its spending, according to Payload. “If we’re not making big changes, we will never catch up,” he warned. Payload
NASA is signaling a shift in tone. Administrator Jared Isaacman, speaking at the March “Ignition” event, made it clear: “the clock is running” in what he described as a great-power space race. NASA now plans a phased approach for building a Moon base, wants industry to weigh in, and is pushing for more frequent crewed lunar flights after Artemis V. NASA
All of this drops Europe right into a wider power struggle. The U.S. is looking to shore up its lunar foothold ahead of China’s planned crewed Moon mission, expected around 2030. Meanwhile, SpaceX and Blue Origin are scrambling to get their NASA lunar landers off the ground, but both projects are running behind schedule, according to a March report from Reuters. That adds fresh uncertainty to Artemis’s already tight timeline.
Europe has a direct hand in Artemis. According to ESA, the European Service Module—assembled by Airbus in Bremen with parts from 13 different ESA countries—provides power and propulsion for NASA’s Orion spacecraft. ESA made the statement following the Artemis II launch in April.
ESA’s budget is up, but Aschbacher says there’s still a strategic gap. At a ministerial in Bremen last year, member states signed off on a record 22.3 billion euros in contributions—31% higher than in 2022. According to ESA, the funding covers science, exploration, technology, launchers and applications.
The real concern: funds could splinter further. ESA counts 23 members, but as Payload points out, Germany, France, and Luxembourg are channeling cash into their own national space and defense projects, not just collective efforts. Building a European crewed system would stretch across years, and with budgets tight, ESA may wind up reaching for goals its members aren’t willing to bankroll.
NASA is nudging its suppliers to align with the updated lunar strategy. On Wednesday, the agency published its 2026 Civil Space Shortfall ranking, drawing from 454 outside responses. The report points to significant gaps: long-duration lunar infrastructure, surface mobility, and on-board computing. NASA says it has chosen 40 areas for targeted investment in fiscal 2026.
Aschbacher doesn’t mince words, though his message isn’t a rupture with NASA. He put it plainly: Europe will keep partnerships at the heart of its space strategy, but cautioned against crossing the line into reliance. “Do we pilot, or are we merely passengers?” he pressed. Theregister
