During a press briefing following the 332nd ESA Council meeting, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher announced that the agency will publish a call for proposals for the European Launcher Challenge in the coming week.

Announced in November 2023, the European Launcher Challenge is intended to support the development of sovereign launch capabilities and, ultimately, a successor to Ariane 6. While few specifics have been confirmed, early indications suggest the programme will offer multiple awards of €150 million each.

During his annual press briefing in January 2025, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher stated that the agency would publish a call for proposals, which the agency calls an Invitation to Tender, “around the February timeframe.” However, this tentative timeline wasn’t realized. The Director General has now said that the call will be published next week.