Shaping Europe’s future in low Earth orbit

3 min read · reported by ESA

For more than 25 years, the Internation Space Station (ISS) has been humankind's home in space. It has enabled scientists to conduct research in weightlessness, helped astronauts learn how to live and work in orbit and provided engineers with experience that is shaping future exploration.

For Europe, the Space Station has been much more than a destination. It has been a laboratory, a training ground and a stepping stone to future missions beyond Earth. Now, as the Station moves towards the final years of its operational life, ESA is preparing for what comes next.

Learning in orbit

The Space Station continues to deliver new scientific discoveries and technological advances.

During the ongoing εpsilon mission, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot supported a wide range of European and international research and engaged with a large audience of students across Europe through live educational events.

Research conducted in low Earth orbit helps scientists better understand how the human body adapts to space, tests technologies that could be used on future missions and generates knowledge that can benefit life on Earth. The experience gained by astronauts, researchers and mission teams today will help prepare future exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Preparing for what comes next

A new generation of orbital destinations is emerging. Rather than being centred on a single platform, the coming decades could see a broader ecosystem of commercial stations, transport services and research facilities supporting activities in space, as the Space Station approaches the end of its operational life.

ESA is already exploring these possibilities. Recent agreements with Axiom Space and Starlab strengthen cooperation related to future commercial orbital destinations, while an agreement with Vast on behalf of the Czech Republic and Greece supports future private astronaut missions and research opportunities in orbit.

These efforts are already translating into concrete missions: ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and ESA project astronauts Aleš Svoboda and Adrianos Golemis have begun training for Vast's Private Astronaut Mission (Vast-PAM-1), while ESA project astronaut Arnaud Prost is expected to embark on the first mission to Vast's commercial space station Haven-1.

Alongside these partnerships, ESA recently commissioned studies into the feasibility of a future European-led orbital outpost , one of several concepts being explored for the post-ISS era.

Together, these efforts aim to ensure that scientists, researchers and astronauts will continue to have opportunities to use the unique environment of low Earth orbit in the decades ahead.

Building the services that make exploration possible

Future destinations will rely on transportation and logistics services that can carry supplies, scientific experiments, and, ultimately astronauts to orbit.

ESA’s ALADDIN project will demonstrate a European cargo transportation capability to and from low Earth orbit. Recently, ESA signed a service development contract with The Exploration Company to support the development of the Nyx cargo vehicle.

Looking further ahead, ESA is exploring future crew transportation capabilities as part of its long-term vision for low Earth orbit. Concepts currently under consideration include a European crew transport system, alongside the launch, operational and recovery capabilities needed to support future human spaceflight activities.

ESA is also investing in future research infrastructure, autonomous science platforms and new ways of conducting experiments in orbit. Many of these developments build directly on the knowledge and experience gained through decades of work aboard the Space Station.

Looking ahead

The International Space Station continues to deliver scientific discoveries, technological advances and operational experience.

At the same time, ESA is helping shape the future of low Earth orbit through new astronaut missions, commercial partnerships, research infrastructure and transportation initiatives.

Together, these efforts will ensure that research and human spaceflight can continue after the Space Station retires. As a testbed for future exploration, low Earth orbit remains essential for developing the technologies, capabilities and partnerships needed for the next chapter of human activity in space.

Want to know more? Listen to the ESA Explores episode with ESA astronaut and Head of the Human Exploration Department Andreas Mogensen on what comes next for Europe in low Earth orbit here .

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Published by the European Space Agency. View the original →