PARIS — The head of the European Space Agency (ESA) will meet officials in the United Arab Emirates this week as Europe seeks new space partners and aims to reduce its reliance on the United States for space exploration, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher told Reuters on 2 November 2026.
Aschbacher is due to attend meetings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to Reuters. In an interview in Paris, he framed the trip as part of a wider push for Europe to become a stronger player in the global space ecosystem — one that still works with partners, but is less exposed to decisions made in Washington.
“Number one, we should strengthen our capability, become a stronger player in the global ecosystem, but one that uses its strength to still work with other partners,” Aschbacher told Reuters.
Illustration: A European space headquarters building with a satellite passing overhead. This is an illustration, not a real photograph of ESA facilities or any spacecraft.
What Happened
According to Reuters, Aschbacher said Europe had realised how exposed it is to the United States in space exploration. “We realised that in exploration, Europe is very exposed to the United States,” he said, adding that European political leaders had told him the region needed “more autonomy and more strength”.
The report points to the rise of Elon Musk’s SpaceX as a factor that has laid bare Europe’s reliance on American space technology. Europe also relies on US providers to send its astronauts into space, Reuters reported, and about 5% of ESA’s budget is linked to cooperation with the United States, according to Aschbacher.
That cooperation, built up over decades with NASA, has weakened, Reuters reported, after Washington scaled back or halted common projects — including the Lunar Gateway programme, which was intended to deploy a space station in lunar orbit, and the Mars Sample Return mission. No new detail was given in the Reuters report about the current status of either programme beyond that description, and this article does not speculate beyond what was reported.
The Gulf trip is therefore presented not as a break with the United States, but as diversification. Aschbacher’s stated aim, in Reuters’ account, is to strengthen Europe’s own capability first, and then to use that strength in partnerships with others.
Over the longer term, Aschbacher said ESA hopes to sign a framework agreement with the UAE, Reuters reported. That is a stated hope, not an agreement announced on this trip: the report describes meetings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this week, and discussions on specific possible areas of cooperation, rather than a signed deal.
Background
To understand why the UAE is the partner in focus this week, it helps to look at what the Emirates’ space programme already does — and what it does not yet do. According to Reuters, the UAE launched the Arab world’s first mission to Mars in 2020, operates several satellites, and has sent two of its nationals into space through its astronaut programme.
The Mars mission, known as Hope (Al Amal), was launched in July 2020 and entered Mars orbit in February 2021, where it has studied the Martian atmosphere and weather. It was the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission, and it remains the most visible symbol of a programme that, in little more than a decade, has moved from Earth-observation satellites to deep-space exploration.
But Reuters also notes the programme’s limits, and those limits are part of why a partnership makes sense on both sides. The UAE cannot yet organise launches on its own, according to the report, and it does not own an independent satellite navigation system like the EU’s Galileo or the US Global Positioning System (GPS). In other words, the UAE brings ambition, funding capacity and a growing space industry, while Europe brings launch, navigation and deep-space experience — a complementary pairing rather than a one-sided deal.
Illustration: The Dubai skyline beneath a satellite constellation. This is an illustration, not a real photograph of Dubai or any satellite system.
Two specific areas of discussion were named in the Reuters report. The first is a possible lunar rover launch. The second is the potential participation of an Emirati astronaut in ESA’s EPIC programme — ESA Provided Institutional Crew — which would fly a crew to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
EPIC, approved by the ESA Council in March 2026 according to project descriptions, is planned as a dedicated Crew Dragon mission to the station in early 2028, lasting about a month and led by ESA. It is designed to give European astronauts more flight opportunities in the final years of the station’s operation, and ESA has said it is open to non-ESA astronauts joining the four-person crew. Reuters reports only that an Emirati astronaut’s participation is under discussion; no crew member has been named for such a seat, and no agreement on it was announced.
Aschbacher will also visit a joint venture between Franco-American startup Loft Orbital and Abu Dhabi-backed Marlan Space to develop a satellite constellation, Reuters reported. The visit follows France and the UAE agreeing to deepen a strategic defence agreement between the two countries, according to the report — a reminder that space cooperation in the Gulf sits alongside wider defence and industrial ties.
On money, Aschbacher declined to discuss ongoing talks about whether the UAE could invest in projects in collaboration with ESA, Reuters reported. He said in September that Europe would need €10 billion ($11.2 billion) over the next 10 years to strengthen its autonomy in space, and that the funding gap may be discussed with the UAE — but only after European governments agree on their own level of funding first.
“Once this decision is made, we will look into international cooperation,” he told Reuters.
Why It Matters
The significance of this trip lies less in any single meeting than in what it signals about the changing map of space power. For decades, European space policy was built around a transatlantic partnership: NASA provided the heavy lift, the launch seats and the flagship exploration programmes, while Europe contributed instruments, modules, astronauts and science. That model delivered landmark missions, but it also left Europe dependent on US political and budgetary cycles.
When Washington scales back joint programmes, as Reuters reports it has done with Lunar Gateway and Mars Sample Return, the effect is felt immediately in Europe — in budgets, in astronaut flight opportunities, and in long-term planning. Aschbacher’s figure that about 5% of ESA’s budget is linked to US cooperation may sound small, but in exploration — the human spaceflight and lunar programmes at the heart of this story — the exposure is far greater than a budget percentage suggests, because crew transport itself depends on US providers.
The Gulf offers an alternative route that does not require Europe to choose between Washington and anyone else. A framework agreement with the UAE, if it follows, would give ESA a partner that is investing heavily in space, building its own satellite industry, and keen to put its astronauts on ambitious missions — including, potentially, a lunar rover and a station flight. For the UAE, a European partnership offers access to deep technical expertise and to programmes such as Galileo-era navigation know-how and lunar exploration, without depending solely on the United States.
There is also a commercial dimension. The visit to the Loft Orbital–Marlan Space joint venture points to the satellite constellation business, where Gulf capital and European engineering are already combining. Small-satellite constellations for Earth observation and communications are one of the fastest-growing parts of the space economy, and partnerships formed now will shape who builds, owns and operates them over the next decade.
Illustration: A lunar rover on the Moon’s surface with a space station in the sky. This is an illustration, not a real photograph of the Moon or the space station.
Finally, the €10 billion autonomy figure matters because it sets the scale of the debate inside Europe itself. Aschbacher’s sequencing — European governments first, international partners second — is a message to both audiences at once: to European capitals, that autonomy has a price tag and needs a decision; and to Gulf partners, that Europe wants to negotiate from a position of funded strength, not as a supplicant.
What Happens Next
In the immediate term, the test of this week’s meetings will be what, if anything, is announced in Dubai and Abu Dhabi — and what is left deliberately vague. A framework agreement is described by Aschbacher as a longer-term hope, so observers should not expect a signed treaty this week. More likely outcomes, if the trip follows the pattern of such visits, are statements of intent, working-level discussions on the lunar rover and EPIC ideas, and further talks on the satellite constellation venture.
The next decision point inside Europe is funding. Aschbacher has put a €10 billion, 10-year figure on autonomy, and said European governments must agree their own contributions before international cooperation funding is pursued in earnest. ESA ministerial meetings, where member states set budgets, will therefore be watched closely for whether that autonomy agenda is funded or merely stated.
For the UAE, the questions are equally concrete: whether a lunar rover project moves from discussion to a defined mission, whether an Emirati astronaut is formally offered a seat connected to EPIC or another station flight, and how the Loft Orbital–Marlan Space constellation develops. Each would be a visible marker that this week’s meetings produced more than diplomacy.
And for the wider space world, the trip is one more data point in a shift that has been building for several years: from a space order dominated by two superpowers and their partners, toward a more multipolar map in which Europe, the Gulf states, India, Japan and others bargain, build and fly with a wider range of partners. Europe’s chief is not announcing a divorce from NASA in Dubai — he is, in his own words, trying to make Europe a stronger player so that it can still work with partners, on better terms.
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FAQ
Who is Josef Aschbacher, and why is he visiting the UAE?
Josef Aschbacher is the Director General of the European Space Agency. According to Reuters on 2 November 2026, he is meeting officials in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this week as Europe seeks new space partners and aims to reduce its reliance on the United States for space exploration.
Has Europe signed a space agreement with the UAE?
No agreement was announced in the Reuters report. Aschbacher said ESA hopes, over the longer term, to sign a framework agreement with the UAE. Discussions reported so far cover a possible lunar rover launch and the potential participation of an Emirati astronaut in ESA’s EPIC programme.
Why is Europe seeking greater space autonomy?
According to Aschbacher, Europe is very exposed to the United States in exploration, and European political leaders have said the region needs more autonomy and more strength. Reuters reported that decades-long ESA–NASA cooperation has weakened after Washington scaled back or halted projects including Lunar Gateway and Mars Sample Return, and that Europe relies on US providers to send its astronauts into space.
What is the EPIC programme?
EPIC stands for ESA Provided Institutional Crew. It is a planned ESA-led crewed mission to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, planned for early 2028 and lasting about a month, according to project descriptions. Reuters reports that participation by an Emirati astronaut is under discussion, but no crew has been named.
How much does Europe need to spend on space autonomy?
Aschbacher said in September that Europe would need €10 billion ($11.2 billion) over the next 10 years to strengthen its autonomy in space, according to Reuters. He added that the funding gap may be discussed with the UAE, but only after European governments agree on their own level of funding.
Sources
- Reuters, “Europe space chief heads to Gulf as bloc looks beyond US”, by Florence Loève, Paris, 2 November 2026
- Reuters reporting on ESA–UAE discussions, lunar rover and EPIC, 2 November 2026
- ESA EPIC programme project descriptions, approved by the ESA Council, March 2026
- UAE Emirates Mars Mission (Hope) mission history, launched July 2020, Mars orbit February 2021
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