The European Space Agency has released its annual Report on the Space Economy. While the report carries a 2026 publication date, the data covers the 2025 calendar year. The report’s theme is clear. Global space activity is accelerating rapidly. For Europe, the commercial introduction of Ariane 6 and the return to flight for Vega C successfully restored independent access to space, though the continent lags far behind the U.S. and China in payload launches. This article will focus more primarily on the European data and trends.
