French president says Europe must step up efforts to boost its space sector and sets out a series of milestones for the next decade
2-MIN READ2-MINAgence France-PressePublished: 8:00pm, 10 Sep 2026French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on Europe to develop its own crewed space flight capability within a decade as part of a broader push to strengthen the continent’s space sector.
Macron made the call during an international space summit held in Paris this week, which was shown the cold shoulder by several US companies including SpaceX and Blue Origin.
“We want Europe to assert its ambition in crewed space flight,” he said. “Our European space programme remains fragile and we must step up our efforts.”
His call follows that of European Space Agency (ESA) chief Josef Aschbacher who late on Wednesday appealed to ministers and dignitaries in a closed-door meeting for more resources to develop an independent European space sector.
“Will we be passengers or pilots?” Aschbacher asked, in a copy of his speech provided to Agence France-Presse.
Aschbacher pointed to the rapid development in space technology by countries around the world from satellite development to the exploration of the Moon and Mars.
