EU institutions reach agreement on an ambitious €14.8 billion space programme which will boost Europe’s competitiveness
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End of December 2020, EU institutions (i.e. the EU Council, the European Parliament and the Commission) reached a political agreement on the proposed regulation establishing the next EU space programme for the years 2021 to 2027. Stars have aligned to ensure the launch of the programme early 2021 which is aimed at allowing the EU to play a stronger role in the space sector globally.
A budget of €14.8 billion has been set aside for the programme. The 27-nation bloc agreed €9.01 billion for Galileo, Europe satellite navigation system, and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) which supplements Galileo’s observations by double-checking the accuracy of its positioning data. €5.42 billion are dedicated to EU’s earth observation programme Copernicus.
The remaining €442 million will be split between GovSatCom, a programme aimed at providing secure satellite communications for EU member states, and on European space situational awareness (SSA) initiatives.
This budget will provide commercial opportunities for European space companies reflected in contracts for the construction and launch of satellites, R&D, etc.
The new regulation streamlines the existing EU legal framework applicable to space and standardises security. It also contains rules to ensure high-quality, up-to-date and secure space-related data and services so that greater socio-economic benefits are generated from the use of such data and services.
The regulation establishes a new EU Agency for the Space Programme which replaces and succeeds the European GNSS Agency which has been managing Galileo. The new Agency will benefit from an increased staff and continue to be based in Czech Republic. Its competences will be expanded as it will now be managing or coordinating the other EU programmes (Copernicus, EGNOS, etc.) and will increasingly support the exploitation and market uptake of EU space activities. It will closely work with ESA which will remain a major partner in the technical implementation of the EU space programme.
This ambitious regulation reaffirms EU’s commitment to the space sector, appreciating how essential space is to economy, employment and innovation.
