N° 15–2025: Decisions from ESA's March Council

The Council finalised ESA's Strategy 2040, which will guide activities for the coming Council at Ministerial level in November. The strategy outlines ESA objectives around five key goals, focusing on protecting the planet and boosting Europe's competitiveness and achievements. The ESA Director General has indicated it is 'a living document' which will evolve over the coming years. 

The ESA Member States agreed to reappoint the Council Chair and Vice-Chairs for a period of one year from 1 July 2025. The Chair of Council is Renato Krpoun and Vice-Chairs are Frank Monteny and Juan Carlos Cortés Pulido. 

There were several announcements regarding international cooperation – including extensions of long-standing agreements.  

ESA and JAXA have extended their cooperation on the use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites in Earth science and applications. This reflects the extension of the operational life of the ALOS-2 mission, which has contributed to a range of applications including disaster monitoring since its launch in 2006. The agreement – originally signed in 2020 and extended in 2023, is now extended for a further two years until 31 March 2027. 

Also under the topic of Earth observation, the Council approved for ESA and JAXA to sign a new ten-year Framework Agreement for a Strategic Partnership on climate action later this year. Recent years have seen ESA and JAXA cooperate successfully in the field, notably on the joint ESA/JAXA EarthCARE mission, on activities for greenhouse gases related missions, as well as in relation to the use of synthetic aperture radar satellites. ESA and JAXA intend to identify areas of mutual interest and seek to develop cooperative activities in Earth observation contributing to climate action.  

The Agreement between ESA and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil concerning Space Cooperation for Peaceful Purposes has been extended for a further ten years.  The original agreement came into force in May 2004, and has undergone several extensions. Given the successful cooperation between the parties and their mutual willingness to continue working together, the agreement has been extended until 17 May 2035.  

There is also a new Memorandum of Understanding aimed at fostering synergies between the African Union and ESA. The MoU concerning space cooperation was agreed by the African Union represented by the African Space Agency (AfSA) and ESA and foresees implementation of joint activities, in particular in relation to the respective contribution agreement with the EU on the EU-Africa Space Partnership Programme.  

On the margin of Council, ESA and JAXA signed a Statement of Intent strengthening ties between the two agencies in the field of HRE. It covers joint studies on lunar surface operations, cooperation on robotic missions, development of technological synergies in power systems, communication and navigation, robots and working on interoperability at system and subsystem levels. 

The Chair of ESA Council and the ESA Director General conducted a press briefing after the conclusion of Council. A recording will be made available shortly for those unable to connect live.  

More about Strategy 2040: 

https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/corporate/ESA_strategy_2040_inFocus.pdf

https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/corporate/ESA_Strategy_2040_InDepth.pdf

More about EarthCARE https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/EarthCARE 

More about ALOS-2 - via JAXA https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS-2/en/about/overview.htm 

Contacts

Adelina Campos de Carvalho Adelina.campos@esa.int  

Lucia Riera lucia.riera@ext.esa.int 

ESA Newsroom and Media Relations media@esa.int 

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About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.  

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. 

ESA has 23 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are Associate Members. 

ESA has established formal cooperation with four other Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement. 

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.