Belgium has got behind Europe's efforts in the global space race at a time when it is cutting costs at home – but what is feeding this interest in extraterrestrial projects?
At last month’s European Space Agency (ESA) council meeting in Bremen, the 23 member states pledged a total of €22.1 billion to research and defence projects over the next three years.
Belgium will provide €1.1 billion of that budget, the federal science minister Vanessa Matz (Les Engagés) announced, via 'subscriptions' to the ESA's various programmes.
The country is contributing €114 million for the design and development of a European launcher, €113 million for Earth observation programmes, €205 million for scientific programmes, and €110 million for space exploration.
Another €316 million will be allocated to defence-related projects, such as telecommunications satellites, with just over half of the contribution coming out of the country's defence budget.
The European Space Agency (ESA) satellite launcher Ariane 6 rocket. Credit: Jody Amiet/AFP/Belga
"This is a key moment for the European space sector", Matz explained after the council meeting. "With budgets under pressure across Europe, and at a time when our dependence on space is growing in all fields, Europe is showing unity by making space a priority in order to strengthen our sovereignty and strategic autonomy."
"Belgium, thanks to its rich and diverse ecosystem, is a major contributor. We are building a stronger Europe that creates jobs and generates growth for our businesses and researchers."
Fears of budget cuts
While Belgium does not have its own national space agency (unlike France and Italy, for example), it has been one of the major contributors to projects on the continental stage for several decades.
The country is one of the ten founding members of the ESA, which was created in 1975 through the signing of the ESA Convention, and is the second-largest contributor per capita after Luxembourg.
Amid this autumn's federal budget crisis, there had been fears in Belgium's space research sector that the country would potentially be halving its previous commitment, to contribute only €445 million to the next round of ESA funding.
Raphael Liegeois pictured during a visit to the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, United States of America on Saturday 09 December 2023. Credit: Belga
In the lead-up to the council meeting, an open letter published in Le Soir, signed by Belgian scientists from both sides of the language border, had called on the Federal Government to maintain its spending on space innovation.
Drastic cuts, the letter read, would have led to Belgium's sudden withdrawal from various international projects such as the James Webb Telescope or the ESA's Euclid mission.
"Entire teams of researchers and engineers, with unique expertise gained through decades of financial and human investment, could disappear, leading to an irreversible brain drain," the scientists warned.
A return on investment
In a separate open letter published last year, the country's ten 'Federal Scientific Establishments', highlighted the value of Belgium's investment in space programmes: "For every euro invested in the ESA, the Belgian industry gets €4.35 back, indirectly financing more than 3,500 jobs in the sector."
Speaking to Le Soir in March, Matz explained that she would look to prevent cuts to Belgium's ESA contribution, even as the Federal Government reduced funding for scientific research.
"In the current climate and given the geopolitical tensions, it would be heresy," she explained. With a federal budget having been agreed just before the meeting in November, Belgium ended up increasing its contribution to the ESA's projects by around 13%.
According to the Federal Government, the country’s space sector is made up of over 100 companies, 9 universities, and 13 research institutes.
A Belgian, Raphaël Liégeois, was one of the five career astronauts selected as part of the ESA's latest class of recruits in 2022, with the Namur native's flight to the International Space Station scheduled for 2027.
