The European Space Agency has outlined how it intends to keep Europe active in low Earth orbit as the International Space Station approaches the final years of its operational life, in an article published on its website.

According to ESA, the Station has served Europe as a laboratory, a training ground and a step towards missions beyond Earth. During the current εpsilon mission, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot supported European and international research and took part in live educational events with students. ESA says the experience gained by astronauts, researchers and mission teams will help prepare for future exploration of the Moon and Mars.

ESA describes a coming shift from a single platform towards a broader ecosystem of commercial stations, transport services and research facilities. It cites agreements with Axiom Space and Starlab, and an agreement with Vast covering the Czech Republic and Greece. ESA astronauts Thomas Pesquet, Aleš Svoboda and Adrianos Golemis have begun training for Vast's private astronaut mission Vast-PAM-1, while Arnaud Prost is expected to fly on the first mission to Vast's Haven-1 station. ESA has also commissioned studies into the feasibility of a European-led orbital outpost.

On transport, ESA's ALADDIN project aims to demonstrate European cargo transport to and from low Earth orbit, and ESA has signed a service development contract with The Exploration Company for its Nyx cargo vehicle. ESA says it is also exploring future crew transport concepts and investing in research infrastructure and autonomous science platforms.