This is stated in a letter to Parliament regarding the intended use of Dutch public space investments in programs of the European Space Agency (ESA). The Netherlands Space Office (NSO) has advised the cabinet on how to utilize the budget for 2025-2028. Including national programs, such as laser satellite communication and Earth observation satellites, the cabinets space policy until 2028 amounts to over 550 million euros.
Minister Karremans: “Space technology has proven to contribute to our economy, innovation, security, and infrastructure. Investing in it aligns with our National Technology Strategy and the Long-term Space Agenda. At the same time, funding opportunities are limited, which means we cannot make additional incidental investments in European programs this time. However, because the sector is important, we have managed to maintain the basic contribution.”
Investments through European Space Agency programs
The Dutch commitment for the upcoming Ministerial Conference (MC25) of ESA on November 26 and 27, 2025, in Bremen, Germany, amounts to a total of 344.3 million euros (2026-2028). The 23 member states of ESA agree every three years on how much they will collectively invest in space. In the period 2020-2022, the Netherlands contributed 283.5 million euros to ESA programs. In 2023-2025, this was 319.8 million euros, along with an incidental increase of 53.6 million euros.
At the end of 2023, the cabinet also allocated an additional 22.2 million euros to strengthen the investment climate of the NL Space Campus, where startups, researchers, students, and SMEs collaborate around Noordwijk. This contribution goes towards the modernization of ESTEC, the technological headquarters of ESA. ESTEC generates around 500 million euros in expenditures annually, thus serving as an investment magnet in the Netherlands for foreign space companies.
