The European Parliament adopted a report on Space capabilities for European security and defence drafted by MEP Bogdan Zdrojewski. The document underlines the possibilities that have been gained by the Member States thanks to the EU programs, Copernicus and Galileo, in the areas of adequate positioning, border monitoring, air and maritime travel control, as well as the analysis of climate change.

“Positioning services and Earth observation capabilities, offered by the EU programs, Galileo and Copernicus respectively, should be used in order to assure the security of EU citizens” Read more…

Written by Vincent Reillon and Patryk Pawlak

Autonomous space capabilities play a key role for in enhancing situational awareness, response to complex crises (natural disasters), management of natural resources (water, forests), delivery of services (health, energy, transport, communication, weather forecasting), and national security. With an increasing number of countries gaining access to outer space, the EU has intensified its efforts towards adopting a space strategy for Europe. Read more…

Written by Bogdan A. Zdrojewski.

“Over the past 50 years, Europe has had many successes on the space market. The most recent example is the Rosetta satellite mission, which was tasked with entering into a comet’s orbit and releasing a module, which landed on its surface.

Member states are aware of the potential of space technologies, but it’s important to reiterate the impact these could have on economic development improving overall quality of life, as well as the assurance of widely understood security.

In the report I worked on in Parliament’s security and defence subcommittee, I drew special attention to this last element, which is often omitted.

The EU adopted its space strategy in 2007, and thanks to the treaty on the functioning of the European Union, it has competences in the creation and support of space policy. Read more…