Terrae Novae

In 2014, the ESA ministerial council adopted the "Resolution on Europe's space exploration strategy" addressing the three exploration destinations (LEO, the Moon, and Mars).^{[8][9][10][11]} In response to this document, ESA established the European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) in 2016 to bring together all the agency's space exploration activities focused on these destinations in a single programme.^{[12][13][7][14]} By incorporating the ExoMars programme as well as ESA's long-term human spaceflight ambitions, E3P effectively superseded the 2000s' Aurora programme.^[15]

The programme was renamed Terrae Novae in 2021^[7] and in 2022, the agency published the detailed "Terrae Novae 2030+ Strategy Roadmap".^[7][3] The 2022 ESA ministerial council approved €2.7 billion for the next phase of Terrae Novae, including the Argonaut, a large robotic lunar lander.^[16][17] In 2023, the programme launched a call for proposals for small missions focused on lunar exploration.^[18][19][20]

During the 2020s, the Terrae Novae programme started developing two major space infrastructure projects for long term, sustainable robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars. The Argonaut landers will deliver heavy payloads to the lunar surface.^[21] The LightShip interplanetary space tugs equipped with solar electric propulsion will deliver other spacecraft to Mars and then serve as communication, navigation, and weather satellites within the MARCONI constellation in high Mars orbit.^[22] Additionally, the optional Advanced Research in Telecommunication Systems (ARTES) programme (not part of Terrae Novae) started developing the Moonlight Initiative intended to place a constellation of communication and navigation satellites around the Moon.^[23]

As of 2025, the programme included the European contribution to the International Space Station (ISS) with European astronauts joining both long term ISS expeditions and short commercial missions, the European Service Module (ESM) of NASA's lunar Orion spacecraft, and the uncrewed astrobiology-focused Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) studying the atmosphere of Mars,^[24][2] as well as development of numerous future missions, spacecraft, and technologies.^{[25][26][27][28][29][30]} At the ESA ministerial council in November 2025, the member states have committed €2.9 billion for the programme, 20% less than the previously projected €3.7 billion.^[31]

• List of European Space Agency programmes and missions