Italy, through the Italian Space Agency, contributes to and actively participates in all European Space Agency (ESA) activities, which fall into two program categories – ‘mandatory’ and ‘optional’.

Mandatory Programs include science program activities, infrastructure costs, and basic general activities. All of the Agency's Member States contribute to these programs on a scale based on their Gross National Product (GNP), as established by the ESA Council.

As to the Optional Programs, participation is optional for which Member States contribute in proportion to their interest in each constituent project. However to participate in these programs,  Member States must pay a minimum subscription fee calculated on a scale based on their Gross National Product (GNP), as established by the ESA Council.

The ESA operates on the basis of geographic distribution criteria or fair-return, i.e., it ensures that the investments made in each member state, through industrial contacts for space programs, are proportional to its contribution.

This feature is certainly the element that has enabled the European Agency to increase the number of its Member States, from the initial 11  to the current 22. As a result, the Agency's budget has gradually increased over the years.

To date the 22 ESA Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

There are four Associate Member States: Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Slovakia. In addition, Canada participates in the work of the European Space Agency as a Cooperating State. Moreover, cooperation agreements are also in place with Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia and Malta.

The ESA Council, together with the Director General, is the governing body of the Agency. The Council establishes the guidelines on the basis of which the Agency then develops its  space program. Each Member State is represented on the Council and is entitled to one vote, regardless of its size or actual financial contribution.

The Management of the European Space Agency can be found on the following page.

At the last Ministerial Council meeting in 2022 (CM22), Italy recorded a record contribution to ESA programs, amounting to 18.2 percent of the overall contribution of Member States, ranking third after Germany and France for mandatory programs, and first as a contributor for optional programs, with 2.5 billion euros, in the areas of telecommunications, space exploration, navigation, and space transportation.