The EU enters the global space race; Kubilius says a ‘revolution is coming’

Brussels – The competitiveness of the European economy also passes through space. Making the space sector more competitive, cleaner, and safer is imperative for the coming years if the EU is to keep pace with its competitors in the global race for the technological edge.

“A space revolution is coming,” assures Andrius Kubilius, the Defense and Space Minister in the second von der Leyen Commission, who certifies: “The 21st century will be the space century.” He warns that Europe cannot afford to be late for yet another rendezvous with history and “must be at the forefront” of this revolution because our “autonomy, resilience, and competitiveness” depends on it.

These are the starting points for the EU Space Act presented today (25 June) by the EU executive at the end of the second meeting in the format of the so-called Security College. The regulation proposed by the Commission aims, first and foremost, to establish legal order and remedy the regulatory fragmentation resulting from the coexistence of at least a dozen national codes that do not speak to each other (but that have nonetheless inspired the work of the Berlaymont legal service).

The Commission reasons that such fragmentation hinders innovation, reduces Europe’s global market share, and duplicates costs for no reason. Instead, companies should be encouraged to expand beyond the borders of Member States through a harmonized and predictable regulatory framework. Simplification and de-bureaucratization are the leitmotiv of Brussels’ action, which intends to work on three main pillars with its new space law.

The EU executive emphasizes that the space ecosystem is congested and contested. In the first place is security. Since the 1960s, when the space race began, around 7,000 launches have put about 20,000 satellites into orbit, of which at least 11,000 are still operating above our heads. In the next decade, an additional 50,000 are expected to be launched out of the atmosphere by public and private actors.

The volume of space debris should also increase. To date, more than 128 million fragments of various types of material are floating around the blue planet, posing constant risks of collisions with satellites and research aircraft. Through today’s proposed regulation, the Commission aims to improve the tracking of space objects and limit the production of new debris, including new requirements for the disposal of satellites at the end of their life.

The Commission also proposes to improve the tracking of space objects and to limit the production of new debris. In addition to being increasingly crowded, space is becoming increasingly contested, a new frontier of technological and geopolitical competition between world powers, with China and the United States in the lead. The threat of physical and cyber attacks on space infrastructure is increasing, including electronic interference capable of knocking out (temporarily or permanently) satellites, ground stations, and virtually any communication link.

These threats call into question the continuity of numerous critical services that are essential both for the daily activities of our post-industrial societies (on which, in essence, the global economy depends) and for strategic needs (as made evident, for example, by the very real problems caused by the Starlink outages in Ukraine).

To address these risks and increase the resilience of the sector (Pillar 2), the EU executive wants to require space operators to carry out in-depth risk assessments concerning the entire lifecycle of their satellites and, in general, all related equipment and infrastructure, applying up-to-date cyber security parameters and reporting incidents promptly to allow constant and timely monitoring.

The third pillar is sustainability: with a view to environmental protection, resource management, emissions and debris become central. Brussels aims to introduce common standards to reduce the industry’s ecological footprint, primarily through technological innovation (including new maintenance methods to prolong the life of space assets and limit the amount of debris in circulation).

Once the co-legislators (Council and Parliament) adopt it, the Space Act will apply both to EU and Member States’ space assets and to those of third-country operators offering their services within the EU. Brussels envisages tailored measures to support businesses, such as capacity building, access to testing facilities, and extensive administrative and bureaucratic assistance, especially for start-ups and SMEs.

Today, the EU executive also presented its vision for Europe’s space economy. The communication addresses the evolution of this sector at a global level (which is forecast to be worth over €1,500 billion by 2035), analyzing, in particular, the challenges posed by international competitors and geopolitical rivals, which have repercussions in various areas, from agriculture to energy, from the environment to transport, from banking to defense.

The Commission’s vision envisages actions along six main lines to support the growth of the Old Continent’s space economy: a single market for space, technological independence, a skilled workforce, international cooperation, commercialization of space assets, and, finally, an acceleration in research and development.

“Europe’s leadership in space must be rooted in sovereignty, security, and strategic foresight,” reiterated Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the Commission in charge of Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy. She remarked that for this to happen, it is necessary “to ensure that our space infrastructure is resilient, to strengthen the innovation ecosystem, and secure our autonomy in critical technologies for the next generations.”