The Space Economy at a Glance 2026

The Netherlands has played an active and important role in European space activities since their inception in the 1960s. It hosts ESTEC, the European Space Agency’s technical centre, and was home to the first ESA Business Incubation Centre, established in 2004. Dutch capabilities are particularly strong in precision engineering, scientific instruments and satellite applications. Notable examples include TROPOMI, an atmospheric monitoring instrument launched in 2017 on the European Sentinel-5P satellite, and the planned TANGO mission, designed to monitor point-source greenhouse gas emissions.

As of June 2026, the Netherlands ranked 39th globally in terms of satellite ownership and also 39th for satellites launched since 2019. Around 43% of active Dutch satellites are commercially operated.

In 2025, the Netherland’s civilian government space budget amounted to USD 304.5 million (EUR 269.4 million), as shown in Figure 5.21. This includes not only contributions to the ESA and Eumetsat but also estimated contributions to the European Union (EU) Space Programme, which is mainly based on each country’s share of the EU’s aggregated gross national income. ESA contributions represent the main bulk of the civilian budget. Meanwhile, the Dutch armed forces have launched several satellites since 2021. The Netherlands Space Command listed investment needs of EUR 25-100 million in the 2022-26 timeframe. The Dutch government presented its long-term space agenda in 2024, highlighting the growing strategic and economic importance of space and identifying six key priorities: Security; climate; science; satellite data; economic growth; and international collaboration. The Dutch space industry spans manufacturing, operations and satellite data and signal exploitation. According to the most recent available data from 2018, the sector employed a commercial workforce of 2 150 full-time equivalents, generating about EUR 669 million in production value. The study highlighted the important role of government institutes and higher education institutions, representing another 3 884 full-time equivalents and EUR 525 million in production value A Dutch particularity compared with most other OECD countries is the importance of global satellite navigation system (GNSS) equipment production in the economy.

The Netherlands is a top performer in space-related scientific production [hereafter ‘space literature’] (Figure 5.22). Production is high is relative terms, above the OECD average, and more than 70% of literature is internationally co-authored. From an excellence perspective, using citation rates as a proxy, 17.9% of Dutch space literature was in the top-10 percentile most highly cited in 2024, the second in the sample after Denmark, and based on a considerably higher annual volume of documents. The Netherlands’ normalised citation score, comparing citation patterns within specific scientific fields, ranked above the world average in the All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) categories “earth and planetary sciences”, “physics and astronomy” and “engineering”.

Based on data in the OECD Development Assistance Committee CRS database, the Netherlands is among the top-10 contributors of space-related official development assistance (Figure 5.23). The country committed 49.4.6 constant US dollars over the 2010-23 period, mainly to projects associated with water conservation and food production. This is linked to the Geodata for Agriculture and Water (G4AW) programme, established in in 2013, which used satellite data to provide timely information on weather, climate, hazards and crop conditions, so food producers could make better decisions, improve productivity, optimise their of use of water, seeds and fertiliser, and strengthen their resilience to climate risks and pests.

[4] Canadian Space Agency (2026), 2025 State of the Canadian Space Sector, https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/publications/2025-state-canadian-space-sector.asp.

[7] Dialogic (2020), Brede verkenning toegevoegde waarde ruimtevaart voor Nederland, https://dialogic.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Eindrapport-Brede-verkenning-toegevoegde-waarde-ruimtevaart-voor-Nederland-oktober-2020.pdf.

[10] Georgi, P. and C. Surfield (2025), New and Revised Statistics for the U.S. Space Economy, 2012–2023, https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/space-economy.

[5] Istat (2025), The space economy in Italy: Anno 2021, https://www.istat.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Information-note-space-economy.pdf.

[6] Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) (2026), 2025 Survey of the Space Industry and Aerospace Manufacturing Industry: Results Report [2025년 우주산업 및 항공제조산업 결과 보고서], https://www.kasa.go.kr/prog/bbsArticle/BBSMSTR_000000000140/view.do?bbsId=BBSMSTR_00000000014.

[9] London Economics (2025), Size and health of the UK space industry 2024 (updated 20 August 2025), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/size-and-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2024/size-and-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2024.

[3] McDowell, J. (2026), Jonathan’s Space Report, https://www.planet4589.org/index.html (accessed on 23 June  2026).

[2] OECD (2026), STI Micro-data Lab: Intellectual Property Database, http://oe.cd/ipstats (accessed on  June 2026).

[1] OECD (2025), Creditor Reporting System (CRS), database, https://data-explorer.oecd.rg.

[8] The Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) (2023), Key Figures Estimates for the Norwegian Space Sector 2023, https://romdirektoratet.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/documents/N%C3%B8kkeltall-for-norsk-romvirksomhet/Norsk-rom%C3%B8konomi-2021.pdf.