The European Space Agency has announced a significant budget increase for the next three years, reaching nearly $26 billion. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher expressed concern that Europe could fall behind in space travel without more investment. On Thursday, he thanked ESA’s 23 member states for their contributions. Germany plans to boost its budget for ESA to over 5 billion euros. Aschbacher also mentioned hopes for a European astronaut to join NASA’s Artemis program for a lunar mission. Additionally, ESA signed a letter of intent with Norway to explore a new Arctic Space Centre.