On Tuesday 23 January, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, responsible for the space industry, Thierry Breton, said that 2024 would be a crucial year for the development of European space policy.
“2024 will be a year of projection for the vision we want for Europe about space policy in the next five to ten years. This is a crucial year”, he warned at the 16th European Space Conference in Brussels, adding that ambition, speed and leadership were needed now more than ever.
With the Commission due to present new European space legislation in March, Mr Breton reiterated the need to build “a true EU Single Market for space”. There are currently 11 national space laws in the EU. “This fragmented approach prevents us from acting as a bloc with the necessary size to matter”, he warned.
According to the Commissioner, the new legislation will set common rules for space activities, focusing on sustainability, resilience and security, as it is “a must” to protect space systems against systemic security risks “through minimum requirements for any space system operating in the EU”, for instance on anti-collision and de-orbiting standards or cyber security.
Responding to concerns from industry and MEPs, Catherine Kavvada, Director of ‘Secure and Connected Space’ at the European Commission’s DG DEFIS, promised that “the same rules would apply to European and non-European companies wishing to promote commercial projects in Europe”.
She explained that the Commission would not be taking the place of the Member States and that the latter would continue to work on their prerogatives, but that the legislation would give them the possibility of granting and taking over licences, supervising space players and verifying compliance in a more harmonised way.
“This law will reinforce the position of Europe as a space power, the attractiveness of our single market and our ability to shape norms and standards globally. But I want to be clear: it will be designed in a way not to limit EU’s innovation and the potential of European start-ups”, promised Mr Breton.
For Belgian Secretary of State Thomas Dermine, the EU has a pioneering role in regulation and “regulation can be the basis of a competitive advantage or disadvantage. It is important to use it to rebuild the practices of our industries, which will then have a competitive advantage when regulation becomes global”. Ms Kavvada promised that the Commission would propose accompanying measures to help businesses bear the minimal cost of the law.
Access to Space
Commissioner Breton also stressed the importance of access to space. “Regaining our sovereignty in terms of access to space is imperative if the Union is to remain a credible space actor”, he warned.
In his view, it is time for a paradigm shift to define a European launcher policy within the EU framework. For the Commissioner, the aim is to aggregate European institutional demand for launch services from all public players, with a “clear European preference”. Mr Breton wants this to be put in place before the start of the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
In order to guarantee autonomous access to space, and as part of the Flight Ticket initiative, the Commission has announced the creation, with the European Space Agency (ESA), of a group of five launch service providers. Those selected – Arianespace and the German start-ups Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), Spain’s PLD Space and the UK’s Orbex – will be able to bid for specific work orders up to a ceiling of €5 million.
Mr Breton also called for innovation in launch services. “Work is starting today through competitive challenges, pilot projects and preparatory action to contribute to the next generation of launchers”, he explained.
Investment in critical ground infrastructure, including test facilities, is also highlighted.
Enhancing safety
Mr Breton called for the next EU space programme to include an ‘access to space’ component, covering all aspects of a European launcher policy, from R&D to deployment, including the security and defence dimension, and the development of a European ‘Space Domain Awareness’ system to protect infrastructures and monitor threats. “We need to develop a common autonomous network, linking relevant national and European assets together to ensure safety but also security in space”, he explained.
At the same time, Mr Breton wants to develop the EU’s capacity to “act in space”, since “in-space operations and services - such as servicing, assembly, manufacturing and transportation of objects in space- are key for the resilience and security of our space infrastructure”.
Another priority is the defence dimension of space. “We should fully unlock the potential of the EU space programmes for defence. And boost the delivery of new services in support of security and defence”, said Mr Breton, while ESA Director General Josef Ashbacher explained that defence was the driving force behind space activities, except in Europe.
Mr Breton announced that the Commission was launching two feasibility studies to assess the possible options for creating a European governmental Earth observation service under the next multiannual financial framework. “In parallel, this year, we will start a pilot within Copernicus to test and build a governance that Member States can trust”, he added.
Finally, the Commissioner pointed out that protecting the common good of space meant ensuring a commercial market for European industry. He announced that €10 billion of private investment would have to be released over the next five years to support the fast growth of rising companies. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)