The Spanish Space Agency (ESA) is a state agency with public legal personality, its own assets and treasury, and with autonomy over functional and managerial matters.
The ESA is attached to the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Ministry of Defence, in the scope of the exercise of their respective powers, with the necessary coordination with the departments and bodies with the corresponding functions and powers.
The ESA will adjust its actions to the provisions of Law 17/2022, of 5 September, amending Law 14/2011, of 1 June, on Science, Technology and Innovation, in Law 40/2015, of 1 October and its By-laws, as well as with the remainder of the applicable rules of general and special administrative law.
Object and purposes
The specific purpose of ESA is the use of space for the benefit, knowledge and security of Spanish society, the establishment, promotion and coordination of all activities and policies that allow research, technological and industrial development and innovation in the field of space.
Therefore, the general purposes of the ESA are:
- The promotion, execution and development of research.
- Technological development and innovation in the field of space.
- National security and defence.
- Operations in outer space.
- Satellite applications for the development of departmental powers, as well as the use of data provided by satellites, and the technological and economic impact of the industry associated with the design, construction, operation and maintenance of satellite systems.
- The empowerment of the national space industry.
- The state and international coordination of Spanish space policy, in full coordination with the European Space Agency (ESA) and with space policies and programmes developed within the framework of the European Union and the international organisations of which Spain is a member.
The Agency's specific purposes are:
- Contribute to National Security and promote actions to guarantee the security and defence objectives in relation to space set out in the National Security Strategy, the National Aerospace Security Strategy and the National Defence Directive.
- Promote, at European and international levels, the excellence of space-related Spanish science, innovation and technology.
- Promote and energise the national space industrial sector.
- Defend the interests of national users and respond to public policy requirements in international forums and decision-making groups in the field of space.
- Strengthen the necessary coordination to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of the financial resources available for security, research, innovation, technology, development, industry and programmes in the field of space.
- Exercise national representation in the various international forums in the field of space, ensuring coherence and supporting the interests of the different departments, notwithstanding the provisions of the second final provision of the royal decree.
- Contribute to the space policies of the international organisations of which Spain is a member.
- Promote and coordinate laboratories and technical establishments dedicated to technological development in the space sector that may be associated with the Agency. Encourage research in the field of space and ensure the publication of scientific works in the field.
