Money lying dormant in the coffers of the European Space Agency (ESA).
And even a lot of money.
According to our information, the ESA's cash flow reached nearly 4 billion euros at the end of 2023. A tidy sum which represents the advances paid by the Member States to finance programs and which have not been used.
The reason?
The rule of geographic return.
It stipulates that each country receives a workload aligned with its funding of a program.
And, according to good sources, prohibits any transfer of money from a surplus program to an underfunded project…
France's share at the end of 2023: 700 million euros
However, of this dormant money, France's share represented 700 million at the end of 2023. Enough to annoy (the term is weak) the indebted contributing countries seeking to make savings.
This is the case of France, which has just launched a savings plan of 10 billion in 2024. Cnes (the French space agency) must contribute 192 million (out of a budget of 3.029 billion in 2024). ).
Given France's surplus situation in the ESA budget, "
we are considering reducing our contribution, which should account for most of the savings requested of us
", announces Philippe Baptiste, president of Cnes, who carries the credits intended for the ESA.
Cnes should pay "only" 990 million instead of the 1.1 billion planned for 2024. It also plans to
reduce its internal expenses, to the tune of 10 million, this year
.
The balance to be found will come from the precautionary reserve which will be canceled now instead of at the end of the year.
By activating these three levers, Cnes preserves the budgets planned for national civil and military programs.