European Launcher Challenge
The future of Europe's access to space
Space technology has become indispensable to our modern lives. From navigation to financial trading and broadband communications – vital aspects of our daily lives would barely function without support from space. Europe’s independent access to space is thus essential – particularly in the current global context.
The European Launcher Challenge (ELC), launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2023, is designed to secure more resilient and cost-effective European access to space in the medium term. At ESA's Ministerial Council in November 2025, member states will decide on the funding commitments that will carry the programme forward. Germany, through the work of the German Space Agency at DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), is playing a key role in shaping the programme and its objectives.
Resilient and cost-effective access to space
The core aim of the programme is to provide Europe with a cost-effective means of accessing space that – unlike today – is based on several different launch systems, making it resilient against the failure of any single provider. ESA will support companies in Germany and elsewhere across Europe in developing launch vehicles and will co-finance these developments by up to 60 percent. ESA will also book launch services at an early stage to build confidence among investors and commercial customers worldwide.
ESA will therefore also act as a key customer for launch services. In practice, this means that ESA will specify only its institutional needs and requirements for rocket launches – it will not issue any specifications regarding the technical concept for launch systems or their development philosophy. This customer focus will allow companies to work quickly and cost-efficiently. Over the long term, the European Launcher Challenge is intended to enable the establishment of European launch systems that no longer require financial support from public sources.
Additional funding through the Boost! programme
Through its Boost! programme, ESA is already supporting commercial initiatives in developing space launch and return services ahead of the European Launcher Challenge. Boost! provides companies with financial support for the development and launch of new commercial space transportation services. Germany is the largest contributor to the Boost! programme and in 2024 provided additional funding of approximately 95 million euros.
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