News in Astronomy & Geophysics – February 2026

Member states of the European Space Agency have agreed to increase their contributions for the next five years at the 2025 Ministerial Council – at a total of €22.1bn, this is the largest budget yet agreed for the agency. The UK was one of the few member states to decrease its contribution. Most ESA nations increased their contributions, some substantially; top funder Germany, for example, boosted their support from €3.38bn in 2022 to €5.07bn, an increase of 46%. Canada, Poland and Hungary also boosted their contributions. Just three nations decreased their contributions: Sweden, Romania and the UK. The UK pledged €1.88bn in 2022, but €1.71bn at the 2025 Ministerial Council. Spain, in contrast, doubled its funding to €1.85bn, making it ESA's fourth largest contributor, with the UK moving down to fifth place. This agreement supports Cosmic Vision missions including the LISA gravitational wave detector and the X-ray observatory NewAthena. Technology development for future Voyage 2050 missions will also benefit, as will satellite imaging and navigation services. Technology development, especially launch and orbital operations, will also advance with a view to boosting self-reliance. And, in a historic development, ESA will now allow the use of space applications for non-aggressive defence. tinyurl.com/3s5cp8ub