EU Space Act: launching the EU’s space ambitions into orbit

Today the European Commission presented its Space Act, a set of rules to avoid in-space satellite collisions and keep the outer atmosphere from becoming a junkyard.

Christophe Grudler, our coordinator in the industry and research committee and co-chair of the space intergroup in the European Parliament said : “The Commission will propose a real "highway code" for satellites in space. We had under 2000 satellites in space in 2015. Ten years later, we have over 10 000 -- and counting. It's starting to look like a jungle up there. We need to intervene.”

The risk is twofold, Mr Grudler explains. First, an economic risk: debris crashing into our satellites is costly — 5 to 10% of the overall cost of a mission and that is just the expected cost and doesn’t factor accidents in space. Second, a strategic risk: if we fill the outer space up with hypervelocity shrapnels, some orbits will become unusable, hampering services to our daily lives such weather forecast for farmers, military communications or simple phone calls to our loved ones on the weekend. We have a duty of care.

Today, in the EU, there are 13 different national space laws governing how to launch a satellite, how to identify them in space and how to ensure safety in orbit. The new set of rules adds a common layer to harmonise practices. For Mr Grudler, this is a necessary first step towards a genuine common industrial space policy. “A common industry needs common rules. This Space Act is a first step for an EU-based and EU-scale industry. This, together with the upcoming EU Space Programme, will set the EU into orbit for the global space race”.