The ESA has asked European launch vehicle developers to come back "in the coming months with estimates of what it could cost to expand their programs," Josef Aschbacher said

[2026-08-10] ESA via TASS (London) — By the end of the decade, the European Union will face a shortage of domestically produced launch vehicles due to growing demand for satellite launches, European Space Agency (ESA) Director-General Josef Aschbacher stated in an interview with the Financial Times (FT).

"ESA’s expectation "today [is] that Europe has a shortage of launchers around the 2030 timeframe," said Josef Aschbacher.

In this regard, the ESA has asked European launch vehicle developers to come back "in the coming months with estimates of what it could cost to expand their programs," the ESA chief said. Production of the Ariane 6 launch vehicle is expected to increase from the current 9-10 to 15 per year. This also applies to the production of Vega C rockets.

The results of these consultations will influence decisions on where the ESA will allocate additional funds to address the shortfall over the next decade.

Ashbacher had previously stated that the EU needs to develop its own reusable launch vehicle as quickly as possible to keep pace with Elon Musk and SpaceX.

Last year, participants at a ministerial meeting of ESA member states approved the largest budget in the agency’s history - 22.1 billion euros. This amount covers the period from 2026 to 2028 and exceeds the previous three-year budget (16.9 billion euros) by more than 5 billion euros. Of the 23 participating countries, Germany and France will contribute the most (5 billion and 3.6 billion euros, respectively), with Italy in third place (3.5 billion euros).