This is the best summary I could come up with:

In this first phase of the program, The Exploration Company and Thales Alenia Space will refine their concepts, mature technologies, and focus on requirements for their cargo vehicles.

ESA plans to award contracts for the second phase of the LEO Cargo Return Service program in 2026, eyeing a round-trip demonstration flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2028.

Samantha Cristoforetti, an ESA astronaut who leads the procurement effort, said only the two winners "presented a combination of work plan and financing scheme that were suitable for the purposes of this call.”

At its next high-level budget meeting late next year, ESA will ask its member states for the rest of the funding needed to carry the program through the demonstration flights to the ISS.

This helps ensure stable funding for the agency’s programs, but it can stand in the way of the kind of fast-paced change emblematic of startup culture.

“We have to now evaluate in detail the technical proposals and the capabilities, but this is extremely fast, and is actually faster than some of our competitors overseas managed to build such a vehicle.”

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