Browse Resources by Year

2014 – United Kingdom Government Space Budget

The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) was expected to receive a budget of £## million (US$## million) in 2014, according to planning documents. Of that, £## million (US$## million) went toward the national space program and €## million (US$## million) went to the European Space Agency (ESA). This represented a ##% decrease from last year’s total civil space spending of £## million (US$## million), though the national budget increased by ##% from £## million (US$## million).

2014 – Spanish Government Space Budget

The Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA), the primary organization responsible for space activities in Spain, received appropriations from Spain’s national budget of €## million (US$## million) in 2014, an increase of ##% over 2013 levels of €## million (US$## million). INTA also receives revenue from its own commercial operations, bringing its total income to more than ## million euros. Spain’s contribution to ESA is not funded through INTA, but through the Center for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI).

2014 – Italian Government Space Budget

Italy has Europe’s third-largest space budget. Its civil space program is overseen by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), which in 2014 received a budget of €## million (US$## million). That allocation was broken down into three parts: €## million (US$## million) is the standard contribution from the Ministry of Research and Education, which has been constant for the past four years; €## million ($## million) was for COSMO-SkyMed, an Italian national radar reconnaissance program that will be under construction until 2018; and €## million ($## million) was for special programs issued by the government and decided upon by a body in the Ministry of Research and Education.

2014 – German Government Space Budget

Germany’s civil space program is overseen by the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR or German Aerospace Center), which acts as Germany’s space agency as well as conducting research in its other core areas of aeronautics, energy, and transportation. DLR’s 2014 national space budget was €## million (US$## million) and its research and technology budget amounted to €## million (US$## million). Germany’s total 2014 civil space budget—including its contribution to the European Space Agency—was €## billion (US$## billion), a ##% increase over its 2013 civil space budget of €## billion (US$## billion).

2014 – French Government Space Budget

France’s space agency, the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), had a 2014 budget of €## billion (US$## billion), which represented a 5% increase over its 2013 budget of €## billion (US$## billion). These funds were divided between domestic projects and contributions to ESA. The CNES budget for national programs was €## billion (US$## billion) and its budget for ESA programs was €## million (US$## billion). France incurred a debt to ESA about a decade ago and has been repaying those funds incrementally while maintaining its spending on ESA programs.

2014 – EUMETSAT Space Budget

EUMETSAT, which operates a pan-European system of meteorological satellites, operated with a 2013 budget (the most recent year for which data is publicly available) of €## million (US$## million). Since the beginning, EUMETSAT and ESA have maintained strong ties, and ESA was in charge of developing and building EUMETSAT satellites using funds from EUMETSAT and ESA member states.

2014 – European Space Agency Budget

ESA operated with a 2014 budget of €## billion (US$## billion), a ##% decrease from the 2013 budget of €## billion (US$## billion). As in recent years, the largest three ESA funding line items were Earth observation activities at ##%, activities related to the Ariane and Vega launch vehicles at ##%, and navigation activities at ##% of the budget. The reduction in ESA’s budget was primarily due to lower contributions in the Launcher Program (related to the end of Ariane 5 Slice 5 activities) and in Earth Observation (due to a lower contribution by the EU), that were not fully offset by the increase in Galileo budgets.

2014 – European Commission Space Budget

A growing share of the European public investment in civil space programs is funded by the European Union under the auspices of its executive body, the EC, which promotes two European flagship initiatives—the navigation system Galileo and the environment monitoring system of systems Copernicus, previously known as GMES. These initiatives are complemented by a comprehensive program fostering innovation and technology development in space called Horizon 2020.

2014 – European Cooperative Organization and Government Space Budgets

Civil government spending on space programs and activities in Europe comes from four distinct sources: activities directed by the European Union (EU) and executed by the European Commission (EC), which are mostly implemented by ESA acting as the procurement and development agency; activities by ESA that are funded by ESA member states; activities of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT); and activities carried out by European countries independent of the EU, ESA, and EUMETSAT.

2014 – Chinese Government Space Budget

The structure and organization of the Chinese space program is not transparent. This makes it difficult to obtain credible data on the Chinese national space enterprise, including budget and organization. Officially, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) sets overall guidance and policy for the entire space program. However, the CNSA is not the executing agency for China’s space program, nor do many China watchers believe that it sets top-level policy direction, acting instead more as a central contact point for non-Chinese entities interested in China’s official space efforts. Space activities in the country are executed…