Editing European Space Agency (section)

===Budget appropriation and allocation===
[[File:Easbars.png|thumb|upright=2.2|European Space Agency 2016 budget by domain out of a total budget is 5250M€.]]

The ESA is funded from annual contributions by [[Nation|national]] governments of members as well as from an annual contribution by the [[European Union]] (EU).<ref name="de Selding-2015">{{cite news |last1=de Selding |first1=Peter B. |title=Tough Sledding for Proposed ESA Reorganization |url=http://spacenews.com/tough-sledding-for-proposed-esa-reorganization/ |access-date=28 July 2015 |work=Space News |date=29 July 2015 |quote=The four biggest ESA contributors, Germany and France followed by Italy and Britain – together account for 67 percent of the agency's funding – and more if the annual contribution from the European Union is taken into account. |archive-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416152328/https://spacenews.com/tough-sledding-for-proposed-esa-reorganization/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The budget of the ESA was €5.250&nbsp;billion in 2016.<ref name="esa2016budpie">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/01/ESA_budget_2016_by_domain |title=ESA 2016 Budget by domain |publisher=European Space Agency |date=14 January 2016 |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-date=12 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312173654/http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/01/ESA_budget_2016_by_domain |url-status=live }}</ref> Every 3–4 years, ESA member states agree on a budget plan for several years at an ESA member states conference. This plan can be amended in future years, however provides the major guideline for the ESA for several years. {{citation needed|date=July 2015}} The 2016 budget allocations for major areas of the ESA activity are shown in the chart on the right.<ref name="esa2016budpie"/>

Countries typically have their own space programmes that differ in how they operate organisationally and financially with the ESA. For example, the French space agency CNES has a total budget of €2,015&nbsp;million, of which €755&nbsp;million is paid as direct financial contribution to the ESA.<ref name="leCNES">{{cite web |url=http://www.cnes.fr/web/CNES-fr/3349-sa-mission.php |title=Le CNES en bref |publisher=CNES |website=Centre National D'etudes Spatiales |access-date=11 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806025700/http://www.cnes.fr/web/CNES-fr/3349-sa-mission.php |archive-date=6 August 2013 }}</ref> Several space-related projects are joint projects between national space agencies and the ESA (e.g. [[COROT]]). Also, the ESA is not the only European governmental space organisation (for example [[European Union Satellite Centre]] and the [[European Union Agency for the Space Programme|European Union Space Programme Agency]]).