On 14 August, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy appeared on Fox News and announced that the agency would no longer prioritise Earth science, choosing instead to focus on exploration.
“All the climate science and all of the other priorities that the last administration had at NASA, we’re going to move aside, and all of the science that we do is going to be directed towards exploration, which is the mission of NASA,” said Duffy. “That’s why we have NASA, to explore, not to do all of these Earth sciences.” Later in a social media follow-up, Duffy doubled down, stating that NASA would be getting rid of the “nonsense on climate change.”
While the loss of NASA’s more than $2 billion Earth science budget would undoubtedly have an impact on global efforts to understand our planet, this is an area where Europe not only contributes, but leads both in capability and spending. In 2024, the agency outspent NASA, with €2.3 billion allocated to Earth observation, accounting for around 30% of the agency’s entire budget. A significant share of this budget is devoted to supporting the Copernicus programme, a crown jewel of European space efforts.
The Copernicus programme, jointly managed by ESA and the European Union, is the continent’s flagship Earth observation initiative, featuring a fleet of Sentinel satellites equipped with a variety of instruments and sensors that continuously monitor the Earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere. The constellation delivers more than 25 terabytes of open-source data every day, giving scientists, businesses, public institutions, and citizens worldwide access to an unprecedented resource. According to the European Union, Copernicus is the single largest provider of space-based Earth observation data in the world, supporting everything from climate-change research and weather forecasting to agriculture and disaster response.
Speaking on Europe’s role in the field following Duffy’s comments, Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation, told European Spaceflight that the agency was closely monitoring the situation and stressed the importance of maintaining Europe’s leading role in Earth observation.
“NASA is a key global actor in the domain of Earth Science and Earth Observation. The partnership of ESA and other European actors with NASA in this domain is mutually beneficial to better manage the critical challenges of our planet, as well as serving many economic domains from agriculture to disaster management.”
“We are closely monitoring the debate on US Federal budget appropriations and look forward to continuing working with NASA – as well as other international partners – on Earth science for the benefit of our economies and citizens.”
“The current geopolitical context and discussion on budgets in the US underline how critical ESA and all European Earth Observation initiatives are – from technology developments to satellite missions to data processing and archiving. It is more critical than ever to ensure [the] continuation of the great strides made in Europe to use satellite Earth Observation to better understand and address pressing global issues.”
In addition to the capability offered by the Copernicus constellation, the past two to three years have seen something of a renaissance in European national Earth observation programmes.
In late 2023, Spain and Portugal began work on the Constelación Atlántica (Atlantic Constellation), each committing €40 million to build a 16-satellite Earth observation constellation. In November 2023, the UK contributed £3 million to the project, allowing the addition of a thirteenth satellite to the system. Once complete, the international partnership will use the data collected by the constellation to support the early detection of climate change indicators and the mitigation of natural disasters. The data will also be used to increase agricultural productivity and improve energy management.
In September 2024, Greece contracted OroraTech and ICEYE to deliver six Earth observation satellites for its National Microsatellite Programme. According to Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Konstantinos Kyranakis, the country plans to use the satellites to “protect key areas of interest, both on land and at sea.” The contract awards for the constellation totalled €53 million.
Italy’s IRIDE constellation is by far the most ambitious, with a €1.1 billion budget. The system will consist of Earth observation satellites of various types and sizes, combining SAR, optical, panchromatic, hyperspectral, and infrared sensors. According to the Italian government, once operational, IRIDE will be used to track the impacts of climate change and provide data to support startups and SMEs in developing commercial applications. An initial pathfinder satellite was launched in January 2025, followed by the first seven operational satellites in June.
Commercial Earth Observation
While ESA officials examine the fallout of NASA’s shift away from Earth sciences, some commercial Earth observation operators in Europe see it as a potential opportunity.
“While NASA stepping back from Earth observation missions is unfortunate, it also highlights the growing opportunity for innovative companies to fill the gap and add value,” explained Thomas Grübler, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of OroraTech. “Private earth observation firms already offer a broad range of data and intelligence to governments and taxpayers, often at a much lower cost and with greater flexibility.”
OroraTech was founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich. As of mid-2025, it operates around ten proprietary thermal-infrared satellites, while also leveraging data from a broader network of over 25 satellites. The company aims to expand to a constellation of up to 100 satellites by around 2028.
“The potential rollback of NASA’s Earth observation programmes should not be seen as a loss, but as a turning point,” said Anthony Baker, CEO and cofounder of SatVu. “It highlights the opportunity for Europe and the commercial Earth observation sector to step up and ensure the world continues to have access to the trusted data needed for climate resilience, security, and economic stability.”
“Over the past three decades, the commercial remote sensing industry has matured into a reliable, responsive partner – delivering data more efficiently and cost-effectively than government programmes alone. Just as telecoms shifted from a government monopoly to a commercial industry that now meets almost all global demand, Earth observation is at the same inflection point.”
Baker also acknowledged Europe’s continued leadership in institutional Earth observation capabilities and noted how those institutions are already adapting to incorporate commercial operators.
“Europe is already showing leadership through strategic initiatives like Copernicus – the EU’s flagship Earth observation programme – which guarantees independent, sovereign access to vital data. SatVu’s recent award of a Category 1 Copernicus Contributing Mission contract with ESA is one example of how emerging European capability is being integrated into this system.”
London-based SatVu was founded in 2016 and provides high-resolution thermal data that provides actionable insights for environmental monitoring and industries such as energy and infrastructure. Its first satellite, HotSat-1, was launched in 2023, providing high-resolution thermal data to track heat loss, urban heat islands, and industrial activity.
Airbus Defence and Space, Unseenlabs, and ICEYE all declined to comment when contacted, referring inquiries to ESA for an institutional response.
While NASA’s pulling back on its Earth observation satellites may be an inflection point for commercial operators, as Baker suggests, it’s certainly not as simple as the statement may imply. The telecoms comparison, for example, is an incomplete analogy. At its inflection point, the telecoms industry had a vast potential market, with applications spanning consumers, businesses, and governments alike. Earth observation’s potential applications are more niche, grounded in use cases for governments and businesses. While an individual may indirectly benefit from the data through, say, cheaper produce as a result of increased agricultural productivity, they are unlikely to have any need to engage with that data directly. Additionally, applications like climate change have limited commercial value beyond their value to governments and maybe the agricultural sector.
Europe’s commercial capability is also still less mature than its institutional programmes, making it difficult for the industry to seize this opportunity. That imbalance was thrown into sharp relief in July, when Germany opted to procure Earth observation data services from US-based Planet Labs under a €240 million multi-year deal. The decision underscored a structural gap: while Europe leads in building institutional systems, its domestic commercial sector is not yet meeting the full scope of government demand.
Whether NASA’s retreat proves to be a genuine turning point for commercial Earth observation or merely a temporary political detour, Europe appears focused and reliable. Through institutional programmes like Copernicus, ambitious national constellations, and a rapidly expanding commercial sector, the continent is positioned as a guarantor of vital climate and security data.
