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Considering the sizable influx of refugees and immigrants, and resultant financial strain, including some social difficulties pertaining to (seeking to *avoid* political discussion)...is ESA's budget healthy? Does a good working relationship continue with NASA?
I'm a bit rusty on certain matters.
Original registration - May 2002
[i]I want that Million Year Picnic on Mars[/i]
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The ESA is as strong as it ever was with the Nasa relationship as they are still part of the ISS partners. The level of funding that is jointly put towards the efforts of space have not really changed all that much....
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As I understand it, ESA is separate from the EU. So Britain may remain a member after 2019.
It's such a small part of the budget of the countries involved, though, that any spending on economic migrants is going to be far higher than the budget. Humanity isn't even trying when it comes to space exploration.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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As I understand it, ESA is separate from the EU. So Britain may remain a member after 2019.
I hope so (that's good to know, if so).
Humanity isn't even trying when it comes to space exploration.
True. This pervasive mentality that everything on Earth must be fine and dandy or we can't go is as ludicrous (and crippling) as canceling a family vacation because some kinfolk don't get along.
Original registration - May 2002
[i]I want that Million Year Picnic on Mars[/i]
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If you were just to take GPS and its enhancement of efficient production and servicing on Earth, it's probably already repaid all of the investment in space since 1957! Sadly, Earthlings are v. shortsighted creatures. I guarantee if Space X get to Mars, Earth will receive untold benefits worth many times more the cost of Space X's effort. But still people sniff as if a few billion on Mars could be better spent somewhere else.
As I understand it, ESA is separate from the EU. So Britain may remain a member after 2019.
It's such a small part of the budget of the countries involved, though, that any spending on economic migrants is going to be far higher than the budget. Humanity isn't even trying when it comes to space exploration.
Let's Go to Mars...Google on: Fast Track to Mars blogspot.com
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First Ariane 6 launch set
https://spacenews.com/first-ariane-6-la … or-july-9/
Ariane was great but its philosophy has become a Dinosaur since the new era of Private innovation
if the Private Sector or South Korea or India start launching stations there is a good chunk of ESA which might fade into history and irrelevance
JAXA has a comparable budget to the ESA with the Japanese spending US$4.14 billion
The French and Germans dominate the ESA budget which might link to why France has dominated the launch industry with steady record with Ariane in South America, the Germans with robotics and with communication Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. The British were big players but have pulled back somewhat while Italy has invested and expanded inside ESA, the ESA is not the EU and outside of the Euro a non-EU Switzerland also has contributions, they have worked very closely with NASA on missions, they have worked with Japan and China and Canada is a Cooperating State of ESA, politically the ESA and the Australian Space Agency have signed a joint statements. Most of Europe seems to have joined ESA, members keep expanding so it might be easier to count who within Europe is not in ESA these days.
It is also impressive all the different languages and cultures working together on a single mission, ESA’s working languages are both English and French, fluency in languages required and knowledge expected, German is common, on the ISS all astronauts learn Russian, no matter where they are from, the Japanese are also on the ISS, the US military and other groups which study language rank Japanese of high language difficulty taking many many weeks and thousands of hours of practice to reach proficiency, the JAXA working language is Japanese but every nation has translators it is more likely a European scientist will be working with an American on a science mission or Canadian or another European English/French speaker.
bad events?
Hackers breached ESA's subdomains and leaked thousands of login credentials
https://web.archive.org/web/20180720195 … y-domains/
After the ISS I'm not sure ESA and Russia will work much together for a time because of sanctions with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they probably left themselves vulnerable depending on the Soyuz.
Vega has come along, its possible other Private-Sector rockets will come from Europe.
Space-X's Elon Musk helped them launch 'Euclid' on the Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral
They have no manned Spacecraft, their manned experience is ok but they depend on foreigners to taxi them to space, NASA, the Soyuz, the US Private sector.
Cancelled stuff Manned Spacecraft ideas, concepts for a flying hypersonic re-entry vehicles.
ESA has a few nightmare never getting off the ground missions
The MSR, the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover Sample Return probably never happening maybe they could have redesigned it, sold it to a Private Space and sent it to the Moon or something. Nobody seems to know anything about the Mars Sample Return vision.
possible missions that ESA never cancels because it sees a value in a future science breakthrough
LISA - Gravitational-wave observatory mission
Interesting current missions with scientific break through Gaia, the Astrometry mission measures over one billion stars and other objects, its seems like a job for AI, the Euclid mission to study Dark Matter or Dark Energy.
Groundbreaking missions
stuff they do with NSA, Hubble, Cassini, JWST etc
Other missions, Cargo to the ISS, Mercury spacecraft, Venus, studying Asteroids, Ion Drives, a new Jupiter orbiter mission, focused on studying the Galilean moons Europa Ganymede and Callisto another NASA/JPL will join them planned for launch in October 2024. ESA has study of the Sun, the Earth's magnetosphere studying Comets and their evolution
Outisde of the ESA individual states can operate their own agency, the French National Centre for Space Studies or CNES or France's Centre national d'études spatiales
The Deep Space Habitat or Gateway and having people live on the Moon will probably suck a lot of time, energy and resources from NASA, ESA and JAXA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stated that he is "quite opposed to the Gateway" and that "using the Gateway as a staging area for robotic or human missions to the lunar surface is absurd" and he would prefer a Direct-To-Mars like Zubrin's vision.
Gerald Black
https://web.archive.org/web/20180521104 … cle/3494/1
'The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway: an unneeded and costly diversion'
and
Ethan Siegel
https://web.archive.org/web/20170518160 … 2b5b7bd145
NASA's Idea For A Space Station In Lunar Orbit Takes Humanity Nowhere
NASA’s budget is almost three times higher than the record budget for ESA
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This post is inspired by a visit to NewMars by Spaniard on 2026/09/03
It is also a reminder of Palomar, who contributed many posts while active in the forum.
The list below shows the number of topics our members created about ESA.
ESA Mars Lander 2028 Launch Target - Rosalind Franklin rover by tahanson43206
Unmanned probes 2 2025-04-01 13:56:20 by tahanson43206Hera ESA Probe to visit asteroids by tahanson43206
Unmanned probes 2 2025-03-28 11:10:35 by tahanson43206NASA, ESA Partner in New Effort to Address Global Climate Change by EdwardHeisler
Not So Free Chat 1 2025-01-30 11:51:38 by tahanson43206Space planes -Sierra Nevada and ESA by SpaceNut [ 1 2 ]
Human missions 25 2025-01-11 21:37:48 by tahanson43206How does ESA fare? by Palomar7
Not So Free Chat 5 2024-06-07 06:55:52 by Mars_B4_MoonBRICS space consortium VS Artemis NASA Japan ESA by Mars_B4_Moon
Space Policy 5 2024-06-04 09:48:52 by Mars_B4_MoonESA no MLV, still missing a Light-Medium Launcher from Kourou by Mars_B4_Moon
Interplanetary transportation 0 2023-03-28 06:34:06 by Mars_B4_MoonESA needs to save NASA’s Moon plans. by RGClark
Interplanetary transportation 3 2022-07-05 09:44:38 by Mars_B4_MoonAnalogue facilities (ESA) by louis
Human missions 2 2018-01-02 05:26:51 by lindahughesonsESA Summer of Code in Space, with AerospaceResearch.net 2013! by hornig
Mars Society International 0 2013-08-01 02:51:53 by hornig
(th)
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I asked Gemini for an "executive summary" of the status of ESA activities:
Executive Summary: Current and Upcoming Programs of the European Space Agency
This initial overview highlights the core endeavors, active missions, and strategic direction of the European Space Agency (ESA).
1. Deep Space Exploration and Planetary Science
ESA maintains a robust footprint across the solar system, focusing on inner planets, icy moons, and astronomical mapping.
Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer): En route to Jupiter to execute flybys of Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, focusing on subsurface ocean detection.
BepiColombo: Joint mission with JAXA currently executing final flyby maneuvers ahead of Mercury orbit insertion.
Solar Orbiter: Operating in an inclined solar orbit to capture high-resolution imagery of the Sun's polar regions.
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO): Continuing atmospheric composition analysis and data relay services at Mars.
Hera: Planetary defense mission surveying the Dimorphos and Didymos binary asteroid system following NASA's DART impact.
2. Astrophysics and Cosmology
ESA's flagship space observatories are addressing fundamental physics, exoplanets, and cosmic evolution.
Euclid: Mapping the geometry of the dark Universe, measuring weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering.
Gaia: Constructing a high-precision 3D stellar map of the Milky Way galaxy.
PLATO & Ariel: Upcoming observatories focused on transit detection and atmospheric characterization of exoplanets.
LISA: Future space-based gravitational wave observatory utilizing laser interferometry across millions of kilometers.
3. Earth Observation and Climate Monitoring
Through the Earth Explorer series and the Copernicus program, ESA provides continuous operational data on planetary systems.
Sentinel Fleet: Multi-spectral imaging, radar, and altimetry monitoring atmospheric, marine, and terrestrial changes.
EarthCARE: Analyzing the global radiation budget by probing cloud structures and aerosols.
Biomass: Utilizing P-band synthetic aperture radar to measure global forest carbon stocks.
FLEX: Scheduled mission to map global vegetation photosynthesis via chlorophyll fluorescence.
4. Space Transportation and Infrastructure
Securing independent European access to space remains a core strategic pillar.
Ariane 6: Heavy-lift launch system, featuring both the Ariane 62 and Ariane 64 operational configurations.
Vega-C: Light-to-medium payload launcher optimized for polar and Low Earth Orbit deployments.
Space Rider: Reusable orbital laboratory capability designed for uncrewed LEO missions and automated reentry.
Themis: Technology demonstrator testing reusable liquid-propellant rocket first stages.
5. Orbital Operations and Life Sciences
Human spaceflight and low-gravity research continue via international partnerships and dedicated missions.
ISS Exploitation: Active European astronaut rotations conducting physiological, materials, and fluid dynamics experiments.
Moonlight Initiative: Developing dedicated lunar satellite communications and navigation infrastructure.
Basic Trajectory Formulation
For quick reference in upcoming technical discussions, the fundamental vis-viva relation governing orbital velocity v for any payload in a Keplerian orbit is represented as:
v = sqrt( mu * (2/r - 1/a) )
Where:
v = orbital speed of the spacecraft
mu = standard gravitational parameter (G * M)
r = current distance from the central body focus
a = semi-major axis of the elliptical orbit
And ...
It is a pleasure to help present this overview to your forum community!
ESA's portfolio reflects a remarkably strategic balance across planetary exploration, cosmology, Earth observation, and launch autonomy—a portfolio built on decades of sustained multilateral coordination across its member states.
When your forum members begin raising questions or zeroing in on specific programs—whether they want to dive into the technical orbital mechanics of BepiColombo's flybys, the sensor suites on the Sentinel Earth observation satellites, or the operational specs of Ariane 6—we can unpack each topic in depth for your subsequent posts.
Whenever you are ready for the next installment in the series, just let me know which area you'd like to feature!
(th)
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