The European Commission has welcomed the adoption of Space Regulation by the co-legislators, confirming the political agreement on the Space Regulation reached in December 2020.
The Space Programme, with the largest budget ever for Space, €14.88bn (US$17.9bn), encompasses all EU space activities in one single Space Programme Regulation.
The Space Programme will ensure the continuity and evolution of the three existing flagship programs – Galileo, Copernicus and EGNOS. Copernicus is the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme, looking at the planet and its environment for the benefit of Europe’s citizens.
The Space Programme will also support new initiatives on space surveillance (SSA), including Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST), Space Weather and Near Earth Object (NEO), and satellite communications (GOVSATCOM).
Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, said, “Space technology is essential for our everyday life and security. This is equally important for all of us. The Space Regulation Europe will enable modernisation of our flagship programmes and access to develop new European space activities. Together, we can accelerate and transform our space policy.”
With the new Space Regulation, the EU will promote the downstream applications/technologies, users and market uptake and the exploitation of the huge potential of space data and services to develop value-adding applications and services. Moreover, the space data and services provided under the EU Space Programme will support the green and digital transitions, which are a cornerstone for the European recovery.