ESA has long used the policy, known as georeturn, under which member states guarantee contracts with companies, based in their countries, in proportion to the contribution, which these Member States make to the ESA programme. Proponents of georeturn claim, that it creates an incentive for countries to fund these programs, while the critics, primarily European companies, claim, that it creates inefficiencies, which makes them less competitive.
"This policy is a source of economic inefficiency and harms the competitiveness of the European space industry", - says the report of the European Commission, published in September. This report, known as the Draghi report is named after its author, former Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi, recommended that ESA abandon geo-return.
At the briefing 18 In December, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher announced the intention to simplify geo-return by November 2025 year.
One approach to reviewing georeturns is known as "equitable contribution", when ESA first calls for projects, and member countries then contribute based on the competitive performance of companies in their countries. Geraldine Nadja, director of commercialization, industry and competitiveness ESA notes, that a fair contribution will be included in the proposal for wider geo-return changes, which ESA will propose at the ministerial meeting in November.
ESA plans to use this year's fair contribution for the European Launcher Challenge, competition to support the development of new launch vehicles by European countries. At the December meeting of the ESA Council, the member states approved the "permissive resolution", which authorizes the agency to officially start the competition.
Source: https://spacenews.com/esa-to-use-launch-competition-to-test-georeturn-reforms/