On 15 July 2022, the Commission adopted its Implementing Decision outlining the rules and procedures for EU Member States to participate in the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) subcomponent of the EU Space Programme. About one year after the adoption of the EU Space Regulation, this is the first of several milestones for the EU SST subcomponent, an important initiative to keep space assets safe from in-orbit collisions in light of increasing space activities.
The Implementing Decision is based on Article 58 of the EU Space Regulation and describes
- rules and procedures for the participation of Member States in the SST sub-component,
- rules and procedures for the establishment of the SST Partnership, and
- the development of initial key performance indicators.
The Implementing Decision went through the comitology procedure and therefore has the blessing of the 27 EU Member States, including those who have SST assets and could therefore be eligible for participation in the future EU SST Partnership.
Upcoming milestones for the EU SST subcomponent include:
- submission of EU SST Partnership application by interested EU Member States
- signature of the EU SST Partnership Agreement
- transfer of the SST Front Desk to the EU Agency for the Space Programme
- handover of provision of SST services to the EU SST Partnership
- award of the next EU SST Grant co-financing EU SST Partnership activities
Background
EU SST is a subcomponent of the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) component of the EU Space Programme. It safeguards space assets, especially EU Space Programme satellites such as Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus, GOVSATCOM and in the future IRIS², along with the space assets of EU Member States and other space operators.
EU SST uses a network of ground-based sensors capable of surveying and tracking space objects and processing capabilities aimed at improving, operating, and providing data, information and services on space objects orbiting the Earth. This helps to mitigate the risk of a collision between space assets and other spacecraft and debris, in-orbit fragmentations and uncontrolled re-entries of space objects into the Earth’s atmosphere.
More information
Details
- Publication date
- 15 July 2022
- Author
- Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space