Milestone reached: Commission adopts Decision outlining procedure for new members to join EU SST Partnership

On 19 June 2025, the Commission adopted its Implementing Decision outlining the procedure for additional EU Member States to join the EU SST Partnership, an important initiative to keep space assets safe from in-orbit collisions in light of increasing space activities. 

The EU SST Partnership is a prime example of EU cooperation: 15 EU Member States network their space assets and work together to safeguard approx. 600 satellites from collisions in space, and inform numerous partners on in-orbit fragmentations and uncontrolled re-enries of space objects into the Earth’s atmosphere. Created less than three years ago, the EU SST Partnership took over the provision of SST services, together with the SST Front Desk at EUSPA, on 1 July 2023. 

Now, the EU SST Partnership is growing: Several other EU Member States declared their interest in joining the EU SST Partnership, thereby further fostering EU non-dependence and autonomy in space surveillance and tracking capabilities, boosting space safety and sustainability made in Europe, and promoting the EU as a reliable and trustful partner in keeping space assets safe. 

The Implementing Decision is the first of several milestones in the expansion of the EU SST Partnership. Based on Article 58 of the EU Space Regulation, it describes the procedural steps for EU Member States with SST assets to join the EU SST Partnership. It went through the comitology procedure and therefore has the blessing of the 27 EU Member States. 

Upcoming milestones for the EU SST Partnership include: 

• submission of individual applications by interested EU Member States
• inclusion of new eligible members in 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 

• Regulation (EU) 2021/696
• Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1205
• EU Space Surveillance and Tracking - European Commission
• EU SST – EU Space Surveillance and Tracking