Road to ESA's Council at Ministerial Level
The content in this website reflects the proposal that was put forward by ESA Director General Jan Wörner at the Space19+ Ministerial Council in November 2019. Member States endorsed this ambitious plan with record funding. Read more on the ESA website.
Science & Exploration
Exploring & DiscoveringExploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Science
Exploration
Safety & Security
Monitoring & SafeguardingMonitoring space and protecting our planetary environment
Space Weather
Near-Earth Objects
Space Debris
Clean Space
Safety and Security Applications
Applications
Connecting & BenefitingUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Observing the Earth
Future of Telecom
Future of Navigation
Downstream
Enabling & Support
Designing & OperatingMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Access to Space
Operations
Technology
Basic Activities
The Ministerial Council
27 – 28 November 2019
ESA’s Ministerial Councils bring together ESA’s Member States and observers every two to three years to decide on new proposals and funding for ESA’s next years of work. The next one, called ‘Space19+’, will be held in November 2019. European ministers in charge of space activities will gather in Sevilla, Spain, to decide on ESA’s vision for the future of Europe in space.
Space19+ will be an opportunity to direct Europe’s ‘next generation’ ambitions in space, and address the challenges facing not only the European space sector but also European society as a whole.
This proposal includes the Director General’s plan for space programmes to be carried out by the Agency beyond 2019, and covers all aspects of space activities: science and exploration, applications, access to space, operations, research and development. It also puts ESA in a world-leading position in the emerging field of space safety and security.
Europeans and space activities
How do Europeans perceive issues related to space: Study carried out online on 20 and 21 December 2018 by Harris Interactive for ESA. Sample of 5,227 Europeans.
Do you personally have a positive or negative view of space activities?
9 Europeans out of 10 say they have a positive view of space activities in general, of which a third (33%) claim to have a "very positive view".
- A very positive view
- A somewhat positive view
- A somewhat negative view
- A very negative view
Positive view: 90%
Negative view: 10%
In your opinion, how important are each of the following threats?
Almost all Europeans identify the theft of digital data as a substantial threat, but around 3 people out of 4 deem threats related to space activities to be important: debris, asteroids and solar flares.
- A very unimportant threat
- A somewhat unimportant threat
- A somewhat important threat
- A very important threat
In your opinion, how important is it that European countries pool their resources for space activities?
9 Europeans out of 10 consider it important that their continent pools its resources for space activities, of which 49% view this to be "very important".
- Very important
- Somewhat important
- Somewhat unimportant
- Not at all important
Important: 91%
Unimportant: 9%
In your opinion, on average how much does each citizen from your country contribute a year (via tax) to finance space activities?
Europeans considerably overestimate the burden of space activities on public finances: on average, they estimate the annual cost to be €245 per citizen in their country; only 33% of Europeans give a good estimation (less than €20).
- Less than €10
- €10 to €19
- €20 to €49
- €50 to €99
- €100 to €499
- €500 to €999
- €1000 and more
Good estimation: 33%
Participants
22 ESA Member States
ESA is an international organisation with 22 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.
FIBES, Sevilla, Spain
