Spaceflight 🚀#AstroForge is tracking several candidate asteroids, each of which is about 400 meters 📏 across. There is no shortage of potential targets. Scientists estimate that there are about 10 million near-Earth #asteroids ☄️, perhaps 3 to 5 percent of these are rich in #metals, so there are potentially hundreds of thousands of candidates for #mining. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/against-all-odds-an-asteroid-mining-company-appears-to-be-making-headway/
#AstroForge launches the #Odin mission in 📆 January 2025. A third attempt is planned for late 2025. The fourth mission will focus on extracting and refining #asteroids’ metals before returning to Earth https://www.mining.com/astroforge-secures-first-ever-commercial-license-for-asteroid-mission/
One of two metallic #asteroids floating in Earth's vicinity could boast more #iron, #nickel and #cobalt than the entirety of our #global 🌏 metal reserves. https://www.cnet.com/science/rare-asteroids-near-earth-may-become-targets-for-space-mining/
The #European 🇪🇺 Commission's Vision for the European #SpaceEconomy includes #SpaceMining ⚒️ and in-space resource use https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/vision-european-space-economy_en
The #EU 🇪🇺 #SpaceAct runs the risk of slowing 🐌 industry growth through over-regulation, and unclear regulatory borders. “Operators will start looking into establishing themselves…in other countries less stringent or more favorable.” https://payloadspace.com/the-eu-space-act-raises-questions
🇩🇪 @AuswaertigesAmt : The Federal Ministry of Defence will invest around 35 billion euro 💰 in the space sector in the coming years. This primarily involves the protection of German #SpaceSystems, such as #satellites 🛰️ https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/space-safety-and-security-strategy-2744368
Outer space is vital to our security – the Federal Government presents the first Space Safety and Security Strategy
Space has become increasingly important in recent years – for our daily lives and our economy, but above all for our security. Against this backdrop, the Federal Ministry of Defence and the Federal…
In 📆 2022, Germany was the largest #ESA contributor, providing about 3.5 billion euros 💰 for three years.
With the next ministerial scheduled for Nov. 26-27, industry speculation 🔮 has suggested #Germany 🇩🇪 will offer between 4.5 and 5 billion euros 📈. Some expected the German military to support #IsarAerospace and #RocketFactory Augsburg. The #Canadian 🇨🇦 government will increase its funding by $375.9 million https://spacenews.com/industry-expects-germany-to-increase-esa-contributions/
🇪🇺 The European #Launcher Challenge received more than €900 million in contributions – twice what had been proposed. #Germany 🇩🇪 was the biggest contributor to the total budget with more than €5 billion, while #France 🇫🇷 contributed €3.7 billion https://www.lemonde.fr/en/science/article/2025/11/27/european-space-agency-secures-record-budget-of-22-1-billion_6747900_10.html
The #UK 🇬🇧 saw a notable reduction 📉. There were significant funding increases 📈 from #Spain 🇪🇸, #Poland 🇵🇱, #Canada 🇨🇦, #Denmark 🇩🇰, and #Austria 🇦🇹 https://europeanspaceflight.com/exploration-and-the-uk-emerge-as-the-biggest-losers-of-cm25/
#ESA budget 2025 https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/01/ESA_budget_by_domain_2025 vs. the updated ESA budget for the three-year period 2025-2028 https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/corporate/CM25_pressconference_slides.pdf
The three largest contributors:
🇩🇪 #Germany 5,112 million (~23 %)
🇫🇷 #France 3,675 million (~16 %)
🇮🇹 #Italy 3,495 million (~15 %)
🚀 #ESA 🇪🇺 Launcher Challenge Component A/B : launch services, upgrades
🇩🇪 #RocketFactory Augsburg €15.3, €165.21 mn
#IsarAerospace €23.05, €153.80 mn
#MaiaSpace €4.20 mn, €100,000
#Orbex €100,000, €1.7 mn
🇪🇸 #PLDSpace €36.77, €132.23 mn
🇫🇷 #MaiaSpace €179 mn
🇬🇧 #Orbex €10, €11.7 mn
#RocketFactory Augsburg €10 mn
🇳🇴 #IsarAerospace €5, €20 mn
🇨🇿 #Orbex €100,000
🇦🇹 #IsarAerospace €3.80 mn
🇩🇰 #Orbex €1.00, €7,00 mn
🇵🇹 #Orbex €3.30 mn
🇨🇭 #MaiaSpace €1.00 mn
🇳🇱 0
amount €902.16 million 💰https://europeanspaceflight.com/over-e900-million-committed-to-european-launcher-challenge/
#IsarAerospace, #MaiaSpace, #PLDSpace and #RFA each received at least 169 million 💰 euros, while #Orbex received just 34.9 million 💶 euros. The #UK 🇬🇧 provided most of Orbex’s funding at 21.7 million euros, with #Denmark 🇩🇰 adding 8 million euros. The #Czech Republic, #Germany and #Portugal made smaller contributions https://spacenews.com/orbex-trails-other-european-launcher-challenge-companies-as-u-k-delays-funding-decision/
#SpaceX’s pseudo-monopoly on the launch sector may not be as secure as it once was, as many new rockets 🚀 are planning to make their first orbital attempts in ’26 https://payloadspace.com/what-to-expect-in-2026/
Commercially operated rockets were responsible for 70% of global launch attempts in 2025, up from 65% in 2023 and 55% in 2022 https://payloadspace.com/2025-orbital-launch-attempts-by-country/
📊 #Commercial launches accounted for 54 per cent of #China’s 🇨🇳 total in 2025 https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3340597/chinas-commercial-space-sector-soars-50-launches-2025
#ESA budget 💰 2026
• € 2.44B Earth #observation 🛰️ activities, including #Copernicus and #ERS
• € 1.21B #navigation 🧭 program, including #Galileo, #Celeste, #NAVISP and #FutureNAV
• € 996M #connectivity 📶 and secure comms, including #ARTES
• € 818M for human 🧑🚀 and #robotic 🤖 exploration
• € 698M space transportation 📦 - increasing the flight cadence of #Ariane 6 and Avio’s #VegaC - as well as the European Launcher Challenge 🚀
• € 692M for the #scientific program 🧑🔬
#Germany is weighing investments ranging from spy satellites and #SpacePlanes to offensive #lasers under a 35 billion € ($41 billion) 💰 #military space spending plan https://www.reuters.com/science/germany-eyes-lasers-spy-satellites-military-space-spending-splurge-2026-02-03/
Synthetic aperture radar #satellite 🛰️ production is set to begin in the third quarter of 2026 at a new facility in #Neuss*, Germany 🇩🇪. By placing ownership of both satellites and the data chain with a #European-controlled 🇪🇺 entity, the program reduces reliance on #US 🇺🇸 intelligence assets https://spacenews.com/germany-awards-1-9-billion-sar-satellite-deal-to-rheinmetall-iceye-venture/
* 🗺️ https://graphhopper.com/maps/?point=Neuss&layer=OpenStreetMap
