EESC Corner: European Space Programme

Since the 1990s, the EU has been developing a space policy oriented towards independence from other space powers, in particular through the development of programmes and applications in key industrial sectors such as communications, security, emergency services, navigation systems, information, event broadcasting, climate change, weather forecasting, etc.

With the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), the EU now has a major network of satellites and its own access to space, via French Guiana, using European launchers. ESA Member States, in turn, have their own space agencies and programmes, research centres, ground facilities and substantial industrial capabilities. In general, they are the source of space initiatives which are then taken up in the framework of the EU or ESA. EU action involves, in particular, designing, fully financing and operating the following space programmes, for which it bears overall responsibility for implementing, including in the area of security:

Galileo – the first highly accurate global satellite navigation and positioning system, specially designed for civilian purposes, provided free of charge to users;
Copernicus – provides Earth observation data covering six areas: monitoring of land, the marine environment, the atmosphere and climate change as well as emergency management and security;
EGNOS – a pan-European system of three satellites which improves the quality of the open signals emitted by existing global satellite navigation systems and provides more accurate geolocation data;
SST (space surveillance and tracking) – a space monitoring system used to track the 780 000 items of space debris in orbit around the Earth;
Govsatcom – a governmental (civil and military) satellite communications system, recognised as one of the elements of the Global Strategy for the Union’s Foreign and Security Policy.

The Commission has currently delegated the development and deployment of space infrastructure to ESA, which is responsible for deploying the Galileo infrastructure, while the EU agency in Prague (the European GNSS Agency – GSA) is responsible for promoting the market penetration of Galileo. ESA also manages some Copernicus operations. The European space industry employs more than 231 000 people, including 41 333 in the area of space construction, and generates an added value estimated by the European Commission to be between EUR 53 billion and EUR 62 billion in 2017. Space technologies, data and services have become indispensable in the daily lives of Europeans and for Europe to pursue its strategic interests. Thanks to major investment, the EU has a strong edge in space activities and the European space industry is one of the most competitive. However, there are many new challenges and actors across the world. The Commission’s proposal builds on the Space Strategy for Europe of October 2016 and the Industrial Policy Strategy presented by the president, Mr Juncker, in his 2017 State of the Union address. They are both a strategic vision for a smart, innovative and sustainable industry in response to growing global competition and major technological shifts. The proposal will bring all existing and new space activities under the umbrella of a single programme. The new space programme will maintain existing infrastructure and services and will introduce a number of new features, including:

fostering a strong and innovative space industry,
maintaining the EU’s autonomous, reliable and cost-effective access to space,
a unified and simplified system of governance.

The Commission proposes to allocate the EUR 16 billion budget for 2021-2027 as follows:

EUR 9.7 billion for Galileo and EGNOS, the EU’s global and regional satellite navigation systems,
EUR 5.8 billion for Copernicus, the EU’s earth observation programme,
EUR 500 million to develop new security components.

The EESC supports the EU in its efforts to remain a major independent space power and agrees with it acquiring financial resources commensurate with its ambitions.