Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of the EU Space Agency, spoke to EUROPE about the main challenges for the Galileo and EGNOS programs in the coming years, as well as about the new proposals made by the European Commission on a constellation for secure connectivity and Space Traffic Management, ahead of the Space Summit. (Interview by Pascal Hansens).
Agence Europe : Can you tell us first what has changed concretely in terms of internal organisation, financial and personal resources since you took over as head of EUSPA ?
Rodrigo da Costa – At the beginning of May last year, with the approval of the new space regulation, we transitioned from the European GNSS Agency (GSA) to the European Union Agency for the Space Programme. It is more than a change of name, naturally. The regulation extended the scope of the Agency. We had to go through a process of updating our structures to make sure we could embrace and deliver on our new tasks. So new tasks mean new resources. We are in a growth phase. Last year, we grew our staff by around 40 people. During the next few years, we will hire 100 more people. Regarding the budget of the EU Space Programme, around 9.5 billion euros have been entrusted to us. And we have contracting authority. Here, the biggest portion of that is for our partnership with the European Space Agency.
Speaking of that, the issue of governance between the European Commission, the ESA and the EUSPA was a tricky point during the negotiations on the EU Space programme and also on the FFPA. How are things going now?
In June, we signed the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement. This is a very structured and very well-established document. We have a new way of working together and we have increased cooperation with a clear allocation of roles and responsibilities. For a few months already, we have had our joint office located in Brussels, where staff from the European Commission, the ESA, and our own Agency work together. We have invested more than six months of work in the new setup, and clearly this new approach is proving to be an efficient one. We are delivering, we had a flawless launch last year—quite successful—as well as joint work between the different teams, and we have reached several milestones, some more visible than others, and we are moving forward.
Regarding Galileo, where are we on the deployment, and, also, could you tell us about the main features regarding the next generation of Galileo?
Regarding Galileo, we launched two new satellites at the end of last year. They are undergoing the final test phase, and they should enter into service soon. We have two more launches planned for this year. They will allow us to complete the constellation. This means adding to the availability and resilience of Galileo. But let me clarify this: Galileo has been operational since 2016 and is delivering excellent results. And the results are out there: we have about 2.5 billion users using Galileo in their smartphones and cars. We can safely say that the majority of GNSS navigation receivers feature Galileo.
We are currently testing two very important new services: the so-called “High Accuracy Service” (HAS), which will provide increased accuracy to commercial users, much higher than what’s provided by the main service of Galileo, the Open Service (OS). The Open Service, which is available freely to everyone (you use it on your smartphone, for example) is of course three times better than the other constellations, our competitors, such as GPS or GLONASS. We are also testing Open Service – Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA), which is an important feature for some applications, for instance, in the transport area for the digital tachograph, autonomous driving, etc. So, there are still things coming under the first generation.
When it comes to the second generation, developed in very close partnership with ESA, it will increase services for the benefit of the users, based on a cost-benefit analysis conducted over the past few years. It’s market research, in other words, where we try to look into our crystal ball to understand what the needs for satellite navigation are going to be in five and ten years. These inputs are useful to set the requirements for future satellites and ground segments. The main trends are greater accuracy, reliability, and authentication. It will be very important in the area of drones and geofencing, where authentication is a very important feature.
And as far as accuracy, what could the level of improvement be?
We are currently finalising the design phase. It’s too early to say. In addition, we are convinced that the resilience and reliability of the system, as well as authentication, will be the key determining factors. Sectors like the financial sector or the energy sector are relying on satellite navigation and more precise timing synchronization for delivering their services. This means they need to count on Galileo, to make sure that it receives their data and that the Galileo data is not altered. Of course, protecting the systems is also an important element in a time when cyber threats are booming.
The Space Summit will take place soon. What do you expect from it for your Agency, Galileo, and EGNOS ?
This is an important event. The European Union has come to an important point in the space field. Space is recognised more and more by many different sectors and Member States. Space is everywhere; it will play a major role in the digital and green transition, in the resilience of our economy, the security of our citizens. As our Commissioner said during the Space Conference, on the one hand, there is a will to continue developing Galileo, EGNOS, and Copernicus. And also, we are all waiting for several initiatives coming from the European Commission, such as the Secure Connectivity Initiative.
Regarding the Secure Connectivity constellation, you said your Agency is ready to welcome new tasks. Can you elaborate on that ?
We are a European Union agency; our core competencies are available for the use of the EU. In Space Traffic Management (STM), we have developed important competences and capabilities, we are operating Galileo 24/7. If the co-legislators wish to entrust us with other tasks in the area of connectivity or space traffic management, we will stand ready to do our part.
We are the security gatekeepers of the Galileo satellites. The EU in space also means the protection of the Copernicus satellites and all space assets. So, space traffic management is closely linked to security. At EUSPA today we already deal with classified information through our tasks.
On market uptake, what are the main opportunities and challenges to come?
Firstly, it is important to foster entrepreneurship and innovation. We need to ensure that start-ups, SMEs, and other EU companies use GNSS and EO data from Galileo and Copernicus. This is what we are doing with the Cassini initiative. Start-ups are very important in that field. We need to match their ideas with a solid business plan. We also have to find investors. We recently signed a joint declaration with the European Investment Fund.
The second priority is to steer the use of space data towards areas that support the EU’s priorities, such as the Green Deal and the digital transition. We have a key role to play in transport, of course, but also in energy management, as well as in the forestry and agriculture sectors. We are also working on new services for disaster management, where space navigation and Earth observation data can be a fundamental help. Therefore, our work in the next period will focus on fostering entrepreneurship and aligning investments with EU priorities, where there’s a lot of potential.