EU exports of spacecraft and space transport services totalled €2.205 billion in 2023, compared with €628 million of imports.
Exports of spacecraft, launch vehicles and space transport services to non-EU countries peaked at €3.718 billion in 2012, before falling to €1.513 billion by 2016, Eurostat informed in a release on Tuesday.
They rose again to €2.277 billion in 2017, then declined between 2019 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching €1.352 billion in 2020.
Exports rebounded to €2.547 billion in 2022 — the highest level since 2012 — before easing in 2023.
Imports from outside the EU reached their highest levels in 2015 at €1.715 billion and again in 2017 at €1.816 billion, before dropping between 2019 and 2021 and partially recovering in 2022.
Intra-EU trade for these products and services was €55 million in 2023, the lowest level since 2010.
Spacecraft trade and production
For spacecraft alone, exports peaked at €2.356 billion in 2012 and stood at €1.726 billion in 2023, Eurostat said.
Imports of spacecraft were highest between 2015 and 2018 — ranging from €588 million to €714 million — but fell to €194 million in 2023.
Intra-EU trade in spacecraft declined from €746 million in 2010 to €22 million in 2023, after reaching €1.197 billion in 2012.
EU spacecraft production rose from €4.5 billion in 2010 to €6.0 billion between 2016 and 2019, before dropping to €3.0 billion in 2023.
The figures were published alongside the 18th European Space Conference in Brussels on 27 and 28 January 2026.
