Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General
Dr Josef Aschbacher became the ESA Director General on 1 March 2021. In 2023, his mandate as Director General was approved for a further period of four years as from 1 March 2025.
Born in Austria, Josef Aschbacher studied at the University of Innsbruck, where he obtained a Master’s degree and a PhD in natural sciences. He has built a distinguished international career in space, with more than 35 years of professional experience spanning the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, the Austrian Space Agency, the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and the University of Innsbruck.
As Chief Executive Officer of ESA, Dr Aschbacher is responsible for the definition, implementation and development of Europe’s space infrastructure and activities. This includes launchers, satellites performing Earth observation, navigation, telecommunication and space science, together with robotic exploration and ESA astronaut missions. He is responsible for an annual budget of €8 billion and a workforce of 6000 distributed across several establishments, principally in Europe.
When taking up office as ESA Director General, Dr Aschbacher introduced a new strategy for space in Europe, called ‘Agenda 2025’, aimed at accelerating significantly the use of space in Europe through major new initiatives and programmes. His proposal for ESA’s 2025 Ministerial Council marked a historic milestone, securing the largest Member State contributions ever – totalling €22.3 billion.
From 2016 to 2021, he served as ESA Director for Earth Observation Programmes and Head of ESA’s ESRIN establishment in Frascati, Italy. In this role, he was a key leader of the European Copernicus programme, which has grown beyond all expectations and is now considered to be one of the most ambitious and successful Earth observation programmes in the world.
Dr Aschbacher has held various positions within ESA since 2001, both in Paris and Frascati. Prior to this, from 1994 to 2000, he worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, in his latest position serving as Scientific Assistant to the Director of the Space Applications Institute. From 1991 to 1993, he served as ESA Representative in Southeast Asia, where he developed regional projects while also holding a full-time academic position as an Associate Professor at AIT Bangkok.
In recognition of his contributions, Dr Aschbacher became ‘Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana’ in 2021, the highest distinction accorded to non-Italian nationals. More recently, in 2025, he was awarded the ‘Grosses Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich’ by the government of Austria. The decoration was presented by the Minister responsible for space, Mrs Leonore Gewessler.
