The European Space Agency (ESA) sees Canadian space companies as worthy partners, and is happy to work with them. That was the message delivered by Eric Morel de Westgaver, the ESA’s Director of Strategy, Legal and External Affairs, during his keynote address at the Space Canada Horizons conference on June 4, 2025.
According to Morel de Westgaver, the Canadian space sector has tremendous capabilities that ESA and its member nations are interested in. “You have robotic automation, Earth observation systems, satellite communications, small satellite technology, optical radar payloads, quantum communication technologies, spacecraft, satellite bus design, and in situ resource utilization,” he said. “In summary, what I can say is that Canada is technologically and industrially at peer with the member states of ESA and this large industrial capacity that you have would be more welcome in the ESA programs [in the future than] than it is today.”
This being said, the nature of space exploitation is changing with increased investment in space technology by many nations. “The U.S., of course, is dominating with 64% [of that investment] but we see a very rapid growth in China [at] 12% and also all the emerging players [such as] India, Israel, Australia, Canada also driving [the] investment surge,” said Morel de Westgaver. “This is a very important and fundamental trend. Another trend is the rise of the New Space, the increased private investment and private innovation that we see in vehicle launches. More and more, ESA is moving towards public-private partnership and closer relations with the New Space companies.”
Eric Morel de Westgaver then touched on ‘ESA Strategy 2040’, the ESA’s forward-looking policy plan. ESA Strategy 2040 is based on five goals:
- Protect our Planet and Climate
- Explore and Discover
- Strengthen European Autonomy and Resilience
- Boost Growth and Competitiveness
- Inspire Europe
Overall, the purpose of ESA Strategy 2040 is “to address the key societal issues of Europe like sustainability of life,” said Morel de Westgaver. And again, this is a project that Canadian space companies can play a role in. The place “to start working with ESA is to register yourself,” he said. “We are extremely open in terms of procurement. All our procurements are accessible on the website, depending, of course, whether your country is or is not participating in the program.”
Meanwhile, the ESA has taken steps to help European space startups improve their chances of survival and success. To make this more likely, “we recently created a directorate for commercialization,” Morel de Westgaver said. “One of the things we have learned with startups is that we need to be fast in terms of payments because one thing that startups are missing normally is cash. With the ESA being a big organization, we are trying to be faster — but we always have room for improvement.”
Morel de Westgaver speech comes after Canada and ESA held a Mid-Term Review meeting on February 20, 2025 of the Canada–ESA Cooperation Agreement which was renewed in 2019 for 10 years. In 2023 after the 2022 ESA Council Meeting, SpaceQ was provided with details on Canada’s subscriptions (contributions).
Today, Canada and ESA released a joint statement on the successful completion of the Mid-Term Review of the Canada–ESA Cooperation Agreement. The statement reads:
The European Space Agency (ESA) and Canada have a longstanding, fruitful and unique cooperative relationship in space exploration, technology development, and scientific research. This tight collaboration benefits both ESA and Canada by leveraging each other’s strengths, advancing scientific discovery, delivering highly beneficial space services for our respective citizens, and promoting innovation in the global space sector.
The Canada–ESA cooperation formally started in 1979 when the two Parties signed their first Cooperation Agreement. The current Canada–ESA Cooperation Agreement is the sixth Agreement between the two Parties. Beyond this Cooperation Agreement, ESA and Canada are close partners in the context of the International Space Station, the James Webb Space Telescope, lunar exploration, Earth observation and active contributors to the work of numerous multilateral forums, including the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
The current Canada–ESA Cooperation Agreement (Article XIII, paragraph 2) provides for a formal review of the Canada–ESA cooperation during the fifth year following the entry into force of this Agreement. Accordingly, both Parties held a Mid-Term Review meeting on February 20, 2025. On this occasion, both Parties recognized and highlighted:
- the unique, longstanding and fruitful cooperation between ESA and Canada that yielded productive and tangible results for both Parties
- the critical role this Cooperation Agreement has played in the exchange of scientific and technological expertise for the peaceful use of space between Europe and Canada
- the synergies generated via the Cooperation Agreement involving European and Canadian experts in the field of space, serving to inspire through innovation
- the opportunities created for Canadian and European industry to collaborate and advance the field of space together
- the remarkable achievements and benefits accrued under this model of international collaboration
Both Parties acknowledged that the Canada–ESA partnership shall continue to evolve, with potential new opportunities in areas such as next generation of space services and technology programmes, lunar and Mars exploration, and sustainable space technologies.
Both Parties confirmed, as a natural extension of this highly beneficial bilateral collaboration, a desire to seize every possible future opportunity to closely coordinate views and positions regarding future global space developments and their consequences for both ESA’s and Canada’s space programmes.
The statement comes at time when the U.S. space program faces uncertainty with a budget battle ongoing which would see NASA and other agencies related to space facing substantial budget cuts and wholesale scrapping of programs including the Lunar Gateway which Canada is a contributor.
Along with the statement, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency said “Today’s signature is about reaffirming Canada’s long-standing commitment to its collaboration with ESA, which has consistently yielded proven results for our Canadian space sector. As our focus is to unleash a new era of growth for our country, space represents the perfect domain to advance innovation and contributes to our goal of building a stronger Canada.”
Dr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency added, “With this signature and the creation of the ESA–CSA task force, we are finding even more common synergies between ESA’s activities and Canada’s own priorities and strengthening the long-standing relationship between Europe and Canada. Canada’s status as a non-European ESA cooperating state positions Canadian expertise – and industry – at the heart of bold international space missions. In today’s geopolitical and economic environment, strong and reliable partnerships are more important than ever. ESA is proud to partner with Canada, and I look forward to our continued successes together.”
