Brussels, 07/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 5 February, an agreement was reached among the permanent representatives of the member states to the EU (Coreper) to create a common space monitoring system, particularly to monitor the growing number of satellites and increasing amounts of space debris. The aim is to protect European satellites in orbit and the space infrastructure in place, by reducing pollution risks. The European system will coordinate the national services of the member states already in place. The estimated cost of this monitoring system is €70 million, which will come from the Horizon 2020, Copernicus and Galileo programmes. The services offered by the European system will benefit both public and private space infrastructure operators. The European Parliament's committee on industry will approve the agreement in the course of the month, for adoption in plenary in April. (MD/transl.fl)