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Space traffic management: Council adopts conclusions on the current state of play

European Council / Council of the European Union

Council of the EU
Press release
8 December 2023

The Council has today adopted conclusions on 'Space traffic management: state of play'. The conclusions address the challenges of an increasingly congested orbital space and the need for a common approach to ensure a safe and sustainable European space policy.

Space policy has left the world of science fiction to become a crucial element of our daily lives, from watching television, monitoring climate change or choosing the day to harvest grain. Access to space will be fundamental to our open strategic autonomy. The conclusions adopted today show the way to ensuring a European presence in the orbits of our planet in a safe, secure and sustainable way.
- Diana Morant Ripoll, Spanish Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities

The conclusions stress the urgency of developing an EU space traffic management (STM) approach, which will contribute to space safety, sustainability and security, and welcome the progress made so far.

They also highlight the importance of taking into account both civil and military space traffic management needs. To that end they call on the Commission, the European External Action Service and the European Defence Agency to work with member states to ensure that defence and security aspects are given due consideration, while stressing the civil nature of the EU space programmes.

The conclusions also highlight the role of the EU space surveillance and tracking (SST) system, which operates a network of ground-based sensors that survey and track space objects, and call for the development of services for space debris mitigation. The EU SST system will be fundamental to enhancing Europe's strategic autonomy. The conclusions call on member states and industry to enhance existing SST services and encourage R&D in this area.

They highlight the significant contribution of space traffic management to the main political priorities of the EU, including the green and digital transitions, technological non-dependence, and the safe and sustainable use of space, as well as security and resilience, while reinforcing the global competitiveness of EU's space industry.

Background

Space traffic management (STM) refers to the means and rules for accessing orbital areas and outer space, carrying out activities there and returning in a safe, sustainable, and secure way. STM has become a priority issue in space policy since the steady increase in the number of satellites and the amount of debris in space. According to some estimates, more than 1 million pieces of debris larger than 1 cm are currently orbiting the Earth. More than 50 000 additional satellites are expected to be launched over the next decade. The resulting congestion in space puts the security and resilience of EU and Member States' space assets at risk. The likelihood of a satellite being severely damaged or destroyed in a collision is expected to increase dramatically unless action is taken.

On 15 February 2022 the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented a communication on 'An EU Approach for Space Traffic Management - An EU contribution addressing a global challenge'. These conclusions on STM acknowledge the role of security and defence in space, given the geopolitical context, and acknowledge the forthcoming regulatory framework on space traffic management that the Commission intends to present in 2024.

The conclusions adopted today follow a series of Council activities on space traffic management, including a roadmap towards a common position on STM at EU level, and the Council conclusions on 'an EU approach to STM' under the French presidency, following the joint communication of the Commission and the High Representative.