In connection with the industrial strategy of March 2020, the European Commission presented, on Monday 22 February, through its Executive Vice-President, Margrethe Vestager, and its Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, its very first action plan to create synergies between the civil, military and space sectors.
As Ms Vestager explained, the objectives are to create new synergies between European programmes and instruments in order to accelerate the market for breakthrough technologies, to ensure that space and defence technologies find civilian applications, and vice versa. For his part, Commissioner Breton stressed the need for the EU to “remain a global standards body” while reducing dependence on critical technologies.
The Commission wants to map critical technologies every two years. Then, for each critical technology, it will develop a specific ‘roadmap’ to accelerate and expand market opportunities, in conjunction with all relevant actors (industry, academia, civil society and government) and integrating them into “tangible” projects.
The EU will promote these synergies through Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe Programme (DEP), the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the Internal Security Fund, the European Defence Fund and the Space Programme, in particular.
The action plan thus remains unchanged compared to the provisional version we had obtained (see EUROPE 12658/3, 12659/27): it includes 11 actions, including three flagship projects to accelerate innovation and “cross-fertilisation”. These three flagship projects are the development of drone technologies, a space-based communication system, and space traffic management.
Moving towards a market monitoring for space data?
With regard to space traffic management and the possibility of creating a new space-based market for monitoring data, Commissioner Breton, responding to EUROPE, indicated that it was still “too early to say”, explaining that, for the moment, the Commission was in the process of specifying specific objectives and instruments.
However, “as soon as a continent masters these data, well, these data will obviously be shared” for satellite launch and positioning on all orbits, a little like the data used for air traffic, he said.
But first, the infrastructure must be built, he reiterated. There are instruments on the ground to locate and track debris and objects in orbit. “We have a very good observation network in Europe, which is not only concentrated on the European continent”, he stressed, referring in particular to the outermost regions. “It is on this network that we are going to rely on first and foremost.”
A ‘Connectivity’ constellation with extended properties
Still responding to EUROPE, the Commissioner mentioned the possibility that the constellation project dedicated to connectivity could possibly be equipped with sensors to help monitor these objects. “We have given ourselves until the end of the year to define all the objectives of the constellation and we want to expand it”, i.e., to go beyond the simple proposal of a broadband connection, as is the case, for example, with the American Starlink. “So, yes, we can imagine that it could have a ‘Space Traffic Management’ component.”
He said that the European Commission had “very good” cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) in this context.
Transatlantic and African cooperation
The two political leaders also stressed the cooperative aspect with non-Member States that underpins this action plan. On this aspect, Ms Vestager stressed during her speech a common transatlantic approach to protect critical technologies. “Transatlantic partnership and cooperation with other like-minded countries can support European efforts in this area.” For his part, Mr Breton insisted on cooperation with Africa within the framework of the constellation project for a connection. In its communication, the Commission also mentions the Arctic region.
To consult the action plan: http://bit.ly/3dy9P5K (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)