At the 18th European Space Conference in Brussels, Belgium, Geraldine Naja, ESA Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness (CIC), took part in the session “Access to Space: Market Realities and Tomorrow’s Challenges”, contributing to a high-level debate on the future of Europe’s launch capabilities and the evolving global space market.
The panel brought together representatives from European institutions, space agencies, and the commercial launch ecosystem to reflect on how Europe can strengthen its strategic autonomy in space.
CM25 Outcomes
Opening the discussion, Geraldine Naja outlined the major outcomes of ESA’s Council Meeting at Ministerial Level (CM25), a milestone that secured a record subscription of €22.3 billion.
Key takeaways emphasised the political and financial commitment expressed by Member States, with subscriptions increasing across the board and space transportation receiving particularly robust support.
The ACCESS programme was also well subscribed, confirming continued attention to commercialisation and innovation. ACCESS is ESA’s new flagship commercialisation programme, built on the proven foundations of ScaleUp and Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS). It provides targeted support to help businesses grow, offering structured pathways for developing innovative commercial products and services for both space and non‑space markets.
Geraldine Naja, ESA Director of CIC, speaking at the “Access to Space: Market Realities and Tomorrow’s Challenges” panel.
The Director of CIC noted an evolution in the balance among Member States, with Germany now joining France as a leading contributor, Spain increasing its financial engagement, and Canada also stepping up its participation.
The session highlighted the growing alignment between ESA and the European Union, and the first‑ever participation of the European Investment Bank, which presented a new tool developed with the European Commission to improve access to funding for SMEs.
Geraldine Naja also pointed to ESA’s mandate in the security and defence domain becoming clearer, with new General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) element supporting this direction. She underlined that Europe is increasingly adopting service‑based models, citing examples such as the European Launcher Challenge and the LEO Cargo Return System. She added that ESA’s internal reform efforts continue, aiming to shorten time‑to‑contract and improve responsiveness to institutional and commercial customers.
Europe’s Competitiveness Capabilities
Regarding competitiveness, the panel discussion stressed that Europe’s position should not be assessed through pricing alone. Reliability, availability and flexibility were highlighted as equally important in a market that remains largely publicly funded and smaller in scale than those of major competitors.
It was underlined that Europe must strengthen its adaptability and industrial capacity to keep pace with a rapidly evolving global commercial landscape. This includes accelerating industrialisation and scale, increasing delivery cadence, adopting more modular approaches across systems and services, and preparing for long‑term technological shifts, such as reusability, while positioning for growth in areas like in‑orbit services and in‑space manufacturing.
Industrial Policy and the Path Forward
The panel reiterated that Europe’s industrial policy will be central to transforming the political commitments of CM25 into tangible progress. Ensuring competitiveness requires accelerating industrialisation, improving serialisation, and developing models that support sustainable commercial growth.