Press Release: Keeping the EU’s space industry competitive and avoiding satellite collisions

On 28 February 2013, the European Commission proposed measures to keep Europe's space industry competitive and to set up a European satellite collision avoidance system. While the EU is a strong player in the global market for commercial launchers and telecommunication satellites and services, it faces increasing competition from emerging industrial actors in countries such as China and India - competition posing a challenge to the further development of the EU's industry.

To address this issue, the Commission proposes a new industrial policy for the European space sector, with a number of targets: to increase industry skill levels, to make finance and investment more readily available, to ensure the EU's independence in space and also to reshape the EU's legislative framework to make it a driver for industry - for example with legislation to promote the production and dissemination of data from satellites for commercial purposes.

These initiatives will be complemented by a surveillance and tracking system to protect satellites from collisions in space. There are around 16,000 objects orbiting the Earth larger than 10 cm, a collision with any of whom would destroy a satellite. The proposed support programme would allow EU Member States that monitor satellites and space debris to pool their capacities and establish, for the first time, a European monitoring system.

• Primary Source

European Commission: MEMO/13/149: Avoiding damage from space debris - space surveillance and tracking proposal http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-149_en.htm

European Commission: MEMO/13/146: Europe's space industry – competing globally in a complex sector http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-146_en.htm

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