Browse Resources by Year

2012 – United Kingdom Government Space Budget

Civil space activities in the United Kingdom are primarily funded through the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA), which became operational in April 2011. Allocated space budgets for FY 2012/2013, which ran from April 2012 through March 2013, had not been published by the UKSA as of January 2013.

2012 – Spanish Government Space Budget

The Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), the primary organization responsible for space activities in Spain, received appropriations from Spain’s national budget of €## million (US$## million) in 2012, a decrease of ##% over 2011 levels. INTA also receives revenue from its own commercial operations. Spain’s contribution to ESA is not funded through INTA, but through the Center for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI). In 2012, Spain’s ESA contribution was €## million (US$## million), a decrease of ##% from its 2011 ESA contribution.

2012 – Italian Government Space Budget

The Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), Italy’s space agency, managed a planned budget of €## million (US$## million) in 2012, excluding contributions made to ESA. This represents a ##% decrease from ASI-only planned spending of €## million (US$## million) in 2011. Italy’s contribution to ESA totaled €## million (US$## million) in 2012, a decrease of ##% from 2010.

2012 – German Government Space Budget

The Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Germany’s national space agency, oversaw an authorized budget of €## million (US$## million) in 2012, excluding contributions made to ESA. This represents an increase of ##% from 2011. In addition to DLR-only spending, Germany made €## million (US$## million) in ESA contributions in 2012. Combined, the DLR authorization and ESA contribution totaled €## billion (US$## billion), representing approximately ##% of Germany’s 2012 budget of €## billion ($## billion).

2012 – French Government Space Budget

France’s space agency, the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), operated on a government budget of approximately €## million (US$## billion) in 2012, excluding contributions made to ESA and EUMETSAT. This represented a ##% increase from the 2011 budget of €## million (US$## billion). In 2012, France contributed €## million (US$## million) to EUMETSAT and €## million (US$## million) to ESA programs, including €## million (US$## million) in program contributions and €## million (US$## million) to pay down outstanding debt to ESA.

2012 – EUMETSAT Space Budget

EUMETSAT, which operates a pan-European system of meteorological satellites, planned a 2012 budget of €## million (US$## million), an increase of ##% from planned 2011 spending. A significant portion of EUMETSAT activities are carried out with ESA. Under the terms of the agreement between the two agencies, ESA is responsible for developing the space segment of EUMETSAT programs and EUMETSAT is responsible for launch procurement, ground segment, and mission operations.

2012 – European Space Agency Budget

ESA operated with a 2012 budget of €## billion (US$## billion), a ##% increase from the 2011 budget of €## billion (US$## billion). As in the prior two years, the largest three ESA funding line items were Earth observation activities at ##%, navigation activities at ##%, and activities related to the Ariane and Vega launch vehicles at ##% of the budget. During 2012, Poland signed a formal Accession Agreement to become ESA’s twentieth member state. Poland’s mandatory contribution as an ESA member will begin to appear in ESA budgets starting in 2013.

2012 – European Commission Space Budget

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, EUMETSAT, and ESA.

2012 – Chinese Government Space Budget

Responsibility for Chinese space activities is shared by several agencies, including the China National Space Administration (CNSA), which serves as the public civil face of the Chinese space program, and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which operates the country’s overall government space program, including human spaceflight, as well as all Chinese launch facilities. The structure and organization of the Chinese space program are not transparent. This makes obtaining credible data on the Chinese national space enterprise, including budget and organization, difficult.

2012 – Canadian Government Space Budget

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) managed a FY 2012 budget appropriation of C$## million (US$## million). This figure included Canada’s planned C$## million (US$## million) FY 2012 contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA).