Europe's Space Resilience Initiative Explained with Dr Pascal Legai
In this episode of Space Café Radio, we take you deep into one of Europe’s most strategic space initiatives: ERS – European Resilience from Space.
Host Torsten Kriening is joined by ESA Director General Dr. Josef Aschbacher and his Security Advisor Dr. Pascal Legai to unpack how ERS aims to give Europe independent, secure, and rapid access to intelligence from orbit – and why this matters now more than ever.
Dr. Aschbacher explains how ERS is designed as a “system of systems”, federating national, commercial, and institutional capabilities into a resilient European framework. He outlines the ambition to move from fragmented assets to a coherent, interoperable architecture that can deliver near-real-time situational awareness for crises, defence, and security.
Dr. Legai then takes us into the core of the concept:
- Why time-to-decision is the defining metric in today’s geopolitical environment
- How ERS will connect Earth observation, secure connectivity (IRIS²) and PNT into an integrated operational backbone
- The distinction between technical governance (ESA) and political governance (EU) – and why that separation is crucial
- How ERS will evolve into the broader EOGS – European Union Governmental Services vision
We also discuss:
- The funding reality behind the first ERS phase and expectations for the ESA Ministerial in Bremen
- The challenge of handling classified, sensitive, and commercial data across 27+ countries
- What ERS means for Europe’s role between allies and competitors – and why credible capabilities are a prerequisite for credible partnerships
If you want to understand how Europe plans to move from strategy to implementation on space security and resilience, this episode is your roadmap.
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