A 12-strong star-studded group, known as the “High Level Advisory Group” (HLAG), presented its independent report on the state of European space exploration to the 315th session of the ESA Council at ESA Headquarters in Paris on 23 March 2023.
In its report “Revolution Space: Europe’s Mission for Space Exploration” the HLAG notes that Europe has no independent human launch capacity and therefore relies on non-European partners to send humans to space, which is threatening its future as a credible actor on the global economic and geopolitical scene.
For this reason, the advisory group insists that Europe needs to significantly increase its investment in human exploration, and develop its own human spaceflight transportation capabilities to secure and foster the benefits of a booming space economy. The report covered human and robotic exploration which are both essential for an exploration strategy.