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Political agreement on new European Satellite Constellation

November 21, 2022

On 17 November, EU lawmakers reached a preliminary political agreement on the new European Satellite Constellation for Secure Connectivity. Alongside the Earth observation program Copernicus and the navigation program Galileo, IRIS will become the EU’s third strategic space infrastructure. It should be noted that IRIS will be a multi-orbital satellite constellation providing connectivity, making European infrastructure more resilient and independent of third parties.

MEP Niklas Nienass stated that “satellite-based communication services play an important role in case of crisis. That is why it is good that the EU will build up its own infrastructure.” Moreover, it was provided that the need is to “consciously use of small and medium-sized New-Space companies and their innovative strength”.

Please find more information about the IRIS EU Secure Satellite Constellation here.

Space Traffic Management

November 2, 2022

The Space Traffic Management Dinner Debate will be held on the 9th of November and is part of Friends of Europe’s Making Space Matter initiative, in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA).

The race to space globally is crowding our planet’s orbit. Lower thresholds to enter the space means that more actors than ever before are competing to put their satellites into orbit. Private sector players, such as Bezos and Musk, are leading the way. In the absence of the ‘rules of the road’ in outer space, the congestion of space threatens the viability of infrastructure and operations. This is significant considering the security challenges and global geopolitical tensions that characterise the space race: the creation of space forces in China and the United States are two cases in point. Despite signs of political cooperation, notably between China and Europe, the default position in space is to protect national interests in an environment that is fundamentally uncertain and unpredictable. The overcrowding of space gives little room for errors and miscalculations, which in such a high-stake geopolitical context, can quickly escalate into open conflict.

In addition to the thousands of satellites operating under the watch of nation states, private companies and citizens, there are now over a million debris of at least 1cm orbiting around the Earth and threatening to damage space infrastructures and equipment.

The key role of the involvement of several actors like the Member States, significant stakeholders and close coordination between national and international government and commercial entities from the outset will support this path, concluding to an advanced policy framework, which is developing very slowly.

To this end, there is a need for a coherent set of technical and regulatory provisions that will ensure that the access, the activities and the return outer space are safe and sustainable.

Following the first Making Space Matter Summit, this invite-only dinner debate will look more closely at the importance of urgently tackling STM and the role that the EU plays at a global level.

Please see more information here.

Industry-Committee adopts Secure Connectivity Programme

October 13, 2022

After the landslide adoption of the position on the Secure Connectivity Programme in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), the Rapporteur GRUDLER (Renew) and Shadow Rapporteurs SALINI (EPP), HRISTOV (S&D), NIENAß (Greens/EFA) and TOŠENOVSKÝ (ECR) are ready for a swift negotiation regarding this new Programme.

MEPs send a strong signal with the adoption of their position on the Secure Connectivity Programme:

“Less than 7 months after its introduction by the European Commission, the European Parliament is now ready to engage in negotiations with the Council for an ambitious Programme, that should strongly reinforce the European strategic autonomy. If the ITRE Committee mandate for inter-institutional negotiations is not challenged, the European Parliament position will be considered as formally adopted next week during the plenary session in Strasbourg. After Copernicus (Earth Observation), Galileo/EGNOSS (Satellite Navigation), and Space Situational Awareness, it is high time for the European Union to build the 4th pillar of its space policy. We are committed to make it a success.”

See the full Press Release here.

The Horizon R&D partnership is scaled down

October 12, 2022

The HORIZON R&D partnership, involving five industry organizations representing the whole supply chain, was launched in June 2021 along with other eleven research partnerships. However, long-standing strategic and political interests relating to space got in the way and Member States opposed the partnership. Following that, the Commission had to renegotiate.

This has resulted in a reduction of the scope, with the partnership now limited to the three areas of commercial telecoms, earth observation, and future space ecosystems.

What is more, the budget has been drastically reduced, from an initial €1.4 to €2 billion to €150 million for three years. With a new budget and smaller scope, partners now need to prepare a new strategic document for the partnership to replace the previous, more ambitious one, not an easy task though.

See more here

Secure Connectivity: Debate Gains Momentum

July 4, 2022

MEP Niklas Nienass recently expressed his opinion about the momentum the debate on the planned
European megaconstellation (“Secure Connectivity System”) is gaining. His main concerns are focused, inter alia, in three points. In the first place, he mentioned his concern about the achievement of affordable prices as regards the satellite-based Internet to weak regions. Next, he pointed out his concentration on a substantive development of a European New Space Economy. Lastly, he stated his concern about the timeline, providing that 2027 instead of 2024 should allow the EU to accurately determine the actual needs of Member States and shape the development accordingly.

Find his full statement and his report from his trip to the USA here.

Making Space Matter Summit

June 16, 2022

Friends of Europe’s Making Space Matter Summit in June 2022 will provide an alternative platform to discuss space matters and making space matter.

Space exploration, capacity, competition, infrastructure, and its role as a new market and security domain will prove to be defining issues for our planet over the next decade and beyond. Space has the potential to reap huge rewards for social good, progress in terms of our common digital future and ability to mitigate and manage the impact of climate change. Every aspect of our lives, and every policy, has the potential to be impacted by the way Europe and its partners approach the new questions of space. Satellites in particular, and the wider role of space as a new frontier of intelligence and real time situational awareness, will increasingly be an important facet of current crises and future conflicts.

The summit will take place on Monday, 20 June, from 10.45 – 18.00 in Brussels. We look forward to welcoming you.

7th World Conference on Research Integrity

June 15, 2022

The Co-chairs, Local Organising Committee and Programme Committee of the 7th World Conference on Research Integrity was pleased to welcome delegates to Cape Town in 2022!

The 7th World Conference on Research Integrity was held from 29 May – 1 June 2022. The theme of the Conference was “Fostering Research Integrity in an Unequal World”. The 7th WCRI was interesting and relevant to Research Integrity stakeholders across all disciplinary fields from the basic and applied natural and biomedical sciences to the humanities and social sciences. Important RI stakeholders included researchers, institutional leaders, national and international policymakers, funders and journals.

The discussion areas at the conference were focused to Research Integrity as a driver of research excellence and public trust, ethical best practice in authorship, publication and the use of research metricsas well as responding to research misconduct. Most notably, an additional emerging subtheme was referred to ensuring research integrity in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

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https://wcri2022.org/

The Living Planet Symposium

May 25, 2022

The Living Planet Symposium 2022 (LPS22) is taking place now in Bonn, Germany. The LPS22 is one of the largest conferences dedicated to Earth Observations (EO) in the world, and brings together thousand of scientists and users of EO data. This year, it focuses on 5 primordial objectives, one of which is to nurturing public and private sector partnerships, its importance, expanding the EO user base, and increase access to funding and commercialization opportunities. This is synergistic to Europlanet’s interest in incentivising academic and private sector collaborations. The other five objectives are: understanding earth systems (climate and interactions), advancing future technology for EO missions (new era of observations instruments), enabling the digital transformation (data collection, processing, distribution and analysis), and supporting the green transition (for sustainable development).

You can find more information on this exciting symposium at: https://lps22.esa.int/frontend/index.php

Report of the Conference on the Future of Europe

May 20, 2022

The report of the final outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe, including 49 proposals, was presented on 9 May 2022. The proposals reflect the expectations of European citizens on important topics, which also aims to provide an overview of the various activities undertaken during the Conference. The Conference has constituted an unprecedented experience of transnational deliberative democracy. It has also proven its historical relevance and importance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian aggression of Ukraine. The three institutions are ought to examine how to follow up effectively on this report, in accordance with their competencies and the treaties.

Read the full Report on the link: https://futureu.europa.eu/pages/reporting