Toni Tolker-Nielsen: ESA was founded 50 years ago to give Europe access to space

The European Space Agency, which has been operating for 50 years, is already present in all areas related to space: telecommunications, science, exploration, navigation and Earth observation, summed up Toni Tolker-Nielsen, Director of Space Transportation at ESA.

The convention establishing ESA was signed 50 years ago - on 30 May 1975. "It was then recognized that Europe must have its own access to space," Tolker-Nielsen told PAP. He was a guest at the European Space Days (EU Space Days 2025) held in Gdańsk on 27-28 May - an event organized by the European Commission under the patronage of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council.

Tolker-Nielsen recalled that ESA was created from the merger of two organizations: ELDO (European Launch Vehicle Development Organization) and ESRO (European Satellite Research Organization). He added that the symbolic breakthrough was in 1979, when Europe launched the first Ariane rocket. European satellite manufacturers were then able to launch their devices into space using rockets from this family and thus develop the space sector.

According to the ESA expert, access to space - in parallel with the development of telecommunications satellites - has become the basis of something that can be called a space economy in Europe. "Europe did not pay much for what we have today," Tolker-Nielsen assessed.

He recalled that the agency also implements a broad program of scientific research and space exploration. Among the most important achievements, he mentioned missions to Mars, landing the Huygens probe on Titan – a moon of Saturn, and landing on a comet as part of the Rosetta mission.

One of the pillars of ESA's activities is also Earth observation, for example within the Earth Explorers or Copernicus programs. In parallel, ESA also develops navigation technologies. The Galileo system - as Tolker-Nielsen emphasized - is "the most advanced and accurate navigation system in the world".

"As you can see, we are present in all areas related to space: telecommunications, science, exploration, navigation and Earth observation," noted the ESA director.

The agency plans to further explore low Earth orbit and missions to the Moon, as well as placing equipment, robots and even people there as part of manned missions.

"We are also working on large scientific missions to Saturn and other planets. In terms of applications, we are developing new navigation systems and further Earth observation missions," Tolker-Nielsen announced.

ESA is an international organization that brings together 23 countries. It is headquartered in Paris and employs over 2.5 thousand people. The contributions of individual members are calculated in proportion to the number of its citizens. The ESA budget in 2025 amounts to EUR 7.68 billion. ESA operates on the principle of geographical return, i.e. it invests in each member state (through industrial contracts for space programs) an amount roughly equal to the contribution of each country. Poland has been a member of ESA since 2012. (PAP)

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