A(2021)3613
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Dear
The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament (AskEP) thanks you for your email
received on 6 August 2021 concerning space and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.
Please rest assured that we have read your observations and concerns attentively and carefully.
AskEP is an administrative service that provides citizens with information on the activities,
powers and organisation of the European Parliament.
With regard to your message, we would like to give you some information on the subject.
The EU has made significant investments into space in recent years, including into areas such
as navigation and Earth observation. These investments have a direct positive impact on
citizens’ everyday activities here on Earth, for example on communication and travel.
The
Space Strategy for Europe launched in 2016 aims to create concrete benefits for citizens
and businesses, as wel as strengthen the EU’s leadership role in space through fostering a
competitive and innovative space sector. In 2021, the European Union adopted new funding
for its space programmes.
Earth monitoring and satellite navigation systems
The EU has a number of active space programmes, which are run by the
European Union
Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) with the
European Space Agency (ESA) acting as
the key partner in implementation and operational support. All programmes are fully financed
by the EU.
Within these are three flagship programmes:
Copernicus is the EU’s earth observation programme, which includes monitoring and
providing data on climate change, marine environment and the atmosphere. It improves
the EU’s ability to respond to natural disasters and aids in saving lives at sea as wel as
helping farmers to better manage their crops. All
data gathered through Copernicus is
freely accessible to citizens.
EGNOS (the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) provides so-called
‘safety-of-life’ navigation to users in the air, on water, and on land, for example with
information precise enough that aircraft can use it to land. It is fully operational, and a
predecessor to the Galileo programme.
Galileo is Europe’s global satelite navigation system, providing a highly accurate
global positioning service. Its data can be used for a broad range of applications. While
it is an autonomous system, it is nonetheless interoperable with existing satellite
navigation systems. Galileo began to offer initial services in December 2016.
Changes to the EU’s space policy
Under the April 2021 Space
Regulation, the new programmes will bring a number o
f changes
for the EU’s space strategy. With €14.88 billion, this represents the largest ever budget for
space.
The new regulation aims to ensure the continuous development of the programmes, while
supporting new initiatives on space surveillance. It also aims to foster innovative industries
ensuring a strong connection to research, in conjunction with the new
Horizon Europe
programme.
Further Information
EU Space Programme, European Parliamentary Research Service, Briefing, May 2021
Space Programme, European Parliament, Legislative Train
EU Space Policy, European Commission, Factsheet
European space policy: Historical perspective, specific aspects and key challenges, European
Parliamentary Research Service, In-Depth Analysis, January 2017
We hope this information is useful and thank you for contacting the European Parliament and
its President.
Kind regards,