France, Germany resists ESA plan for high-res satellites
June 18, 2025
The European Space Agency (ESA) has a scheme to build and launch a series of satellites capable of capturing extremely high-resolution imaging satellites to be used for European Union military and government uses.
The main problem, which emerged at a session held at the Paris Air Show, is the cost of the scheme.
Europe’s ESA member states are already going to be asked to increase their spending by 36 per cent to support ESA current and future plans. These include the major commitment to the EU’s IRIS2 highly secure mega-constellation, said to be a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink system.
Another snag is that ESA is asking for an initial €1 billion for the high-res system, even though the European Commission (EC) has yet to indicate what its own support could be.
Another cited problem is that Europe already has systems in place which can provide imagery and intelligence. France, German, Italy and Spain, for example, have satellites or relationships in place which can provide images.
Space Intel Report, in its coverage of the problem, quotes Lionel Suchet, deputy CEO of the French space agency, CNES, saying that while it was normal for the EC to think about the development of a constellation, the question remained as to how ESA should be involved: “Is it an initiative for the European Commission? We think it must be a political decision at the European level. The European Commission then would work with ESA to develop the system. But to develop a complex system, we don’t begin by building satellites straight away and spending billions of Euros.”