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The space topic has been a key focus of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union Council, with the EU Space Programme regulation publication. Portugal is now handing over the baton to Slovenia, which has already set the space priorities for its Presidency.

Space is playing an increasingly important role in the priorities of the European Council Presidencies, and space featured prominently on the Portuguese Presidency’s agenda. At the New Space Atlantic Summit, which took place on 8 June, the Portuguese Presidency marked the launch of the European Union’s Space Programme and looked at the impact of New Space on European productivity and competitiveness.

New Space

The summit focused on the development of New Space, including the use of space technology and applications in non-space sectors and to support public policies. At the summit opening session, European Union Agency for the Space programme (EUSPA) Executive Director Rodrigo da Costa outlined EUSPA’s role as the key actor in the European Union’s New Space approach.

Read this: EUSPA at the heart of EU’s New Space approach

EUSPA also participated in other Portuguese Presidency space-related events, like the Africa-Europe Earth Observation Forum, where EUSPA representatives gave inputs on how space can boost entrepreneurship in Africa and strengthen European-African cooperation; and the Portugal-Czech Republic Economic Forum, and Aviation Day which, inter alia, looked at the role of space in Europe’s recovery and its green and digital future.

The key areas of focus of the upcoming Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council in the area of space are space traffic management, bringing the benefits of space to everyone, and space-based secure connectivity. With its goal of linking space to user needs and expanded mandate to include the GOVSATCOM secure communications programme and Space Situational Awareness (SSA), EUSPA looks forward to working with the Slovenian Presidency on these topics.

Slovenia and space

EU Member States, including Slovenia, understand the potential of space-enabled services to address challenges, drive innovation and enhance competitiveness. Slovenian start-ups are realizing more and more the added-value EUSpace can bring to their operations. Several of them have benefitted from EUSPA support in getting their space-based applications to the market. For example, the first-prize winner in Track 1 (from idea to prototype) of this year’s MyGalileoSolution competition was the Slovenian project VisionAnchor the world's first video anchor monitoring system for boats.   

 The Slovenian Presidency of the Council has several EUSpace initiatives in its agenda, including awareness raising-events which will take place either online or physically addressing topics such as “Space for Green and Digital Recovery” and the “Secure Connectivity Initiative”. 

“Slovenia believes that also small nations and SMEs can play a very significant role in Space, working hand in hand with big Space faring nations. Our goal during the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU is to bring space closer to everyone, including citizens and SMEs,” commented the Slovenian Ministry of economic development and technology, responsible for Space, Directorate for internationalisation on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency.

And this: CASSINI hackathon leverages space to digitise green spaces

What’s more, Slovenia is set to host the upcoming CASSINI hackathons initiated by the European Commission to tackle global challenges using European space technologies. In the first hackathon in the series, participants will use Copernicus Earth observation data, together with positioning technologies from Galileo and EGNOS, in an effort to digitise Europe’s green spaces.

Supporting EU priorities

The EU Space Programme is a joint effort and asset of all the European Union Member States.  EUSPA is working to ensure that the Space Programme delivers the services and applications needed to support key EU policies.

From the European Green Deal to digitisation or an economy that works for people, Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus are driving innovation and enabling services and applications that support Europe’s economic growth and the EU’s key priorities for Europe. See here for more info on how space is supporting EU policy.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

The space topic has been a key focus of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union Council, with the EU Space Programme regulation publication. Portugal is now handing over the baton to Slovenia, which has already set the space priorities for its Presidency.

Space is playing an increasingly important role in the priorities of the European Council Presidencies, and space featured prominently on the Portuguese Presidency’s agenda. At the New Space Atlantic Summit, which took place on 8 June, the Portuguese Presidency marked the launch of the European Union’s Space Programme and looked at the impact of New Space on European productivity and competitiveness.

New Space

The summit focused on the development of New Space, including the use of space technology and applications in non-space sectors and to support public policies. At the summit opening session, European Union Agency for the Space programme (EUSPA) Executive Director Rodrigo da Costa outlined EUSPA’s role as the key actor in the European Union’s New Space approach.

Read this: EUSPA at the heart of EU’s New Space approach

EUSPA also participated in other Portuguese Presidency space-related events, like the Africa-Europe Earth Observation Forum, where EUSPA representatives gave inputs on how space can boost entrepreneurship in Africa and strengthen European-African cooperation; and the Portugal-Czech Republic Economic Forum, and Aviation Day which, inter alia, looked at the role of space in Europe’s recovery and its green and digital future.

The key areas of focus of the upcoming Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council in the area of space are space traffic management, bringing the benefits of space to everyone, and space-based secure connectivity. With its goal of linking space to user needs and expanded mandate to include the GOVSATCOM secure communications programme and Space Situational Awareness (SSA), EUSPA looks forward to working with the Slovenian Presidency on these topics.

Slovenia and space

EU Member States, including Slovenia, understand the potential of space-enabled services to address challenges, drive innovation and enhance competitiveness. Slovenian start-ups are realizing more and more the added-value EUSpace can bring to their operations. Several of them have benefitted from EUSPA support in getting their space-based applications to the market. For example, the first-prize winner in Track 1 (from idea to prototype) of this year’s MyGalileoSolution competition was the Slovenian project VisionAnchor the world's first video anchor monitoring system for boats.   

 The Slovenian Presidency of the Council has several EUSpace initiatives in its agenda, including awareness raising-events which will take place either online or physically addressing topics such as “Space for Green and Digital Recovery” and the “Secure Connectivity Initiative”. 

“Slovenia believes that also small nations and SMEs can play a very significant role in Space, working hand in hand with big Space faring nations. Our goal during the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU is to bring space closer to everyone, including citizens and SMEs,” commented Tanja Permozer from the Slovenian Ministry of economic development and technology, responsible for Space, Directorate for internationalisation on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency.

And this: CASSINI hackathon leverages space to digitise green spaces

What’s more, Slovenia is set to host the upcoming CASSINI hackathons initiated by the European Commission to tackle global challenges using European space technologies. In the first hackathon in the series, participants will use Copernicus Earth observation data, together with positioning technologies from Galileo and EGNOS, in an effort to digitise Europe’s green spaces.

Supporting EU priorities

The EU Space Programme is a joint effort and asset of all the European Union Member States.  EUSPA is working to ensure that the Space Programme delivers the services and applications needed to support key EU policies.

From the European Green Deal to digitisation or an economy that works for people, Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus are driving innovation and enabling services and applications that support Europe’s economic growth and the EU’s key priorities for Europe. See here for more info on how space is supporting EU policy.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

On 28 June 2021, EU Member States representatives elected Juan Manuel del Salvador Codosero Bolaños as the new Deputy Chair of the EUSPA Administrative Board. It followed the election of the AB Chair, Václav Kobera, in mid-June.

Representatives from the European Union Member States and the European Commission gathered on 28 June 2021 to elect the new Deputy Chair of the EUSPA Administrative Board. 

The new EUSPA AB Deputy Chair, Juan Manuel del Salvador Codosero Bolaños is a Spanish national and aeronautical engineer specialized in jet engines with an extensive experience in both the public and private sector in areas related to aviation and aerospace. 

Codosero Bolaños and the newly appointed Chair, Vaclav Kobera reaffirmed their commitment to be working together with all EU Member States to equally spread the benefits of the EU Space Programme across the Union. Transparency in decision making will continue being the cornerstone of the processes of the EUSPA Administrative Board (AB).

Read this: New Chair for the EUSPA Administrative Board

“I am glad to have received the trust of my colleagues to take this role. I want to get EUSPA closer to the Member States. I will use my mandate as a lever to boost the participation of the Member States in EUSPA daily work and leverage the EUSPA activities in the Member States administration,” said Codosero Bolaños.

“I would like to congratulate Mr Codosero Bolaños on his election. There is a lot of work ahead of us and I am happy to have him on board. We need an active approach from all our AB colleagues. Their interest and commitment are essential to implement the EU Space Programme. We will try our best to increase coordination, cooperation and communication and secure openness and transparency as the main values on this EU space journey,” stated Kobera.

“I would also like to salute Mr Codosero Bolaños on his election. With the elections of Mr. Kobera as the Administrative Board Chair and Mr. Codosero as Deputy Chair, our Board’s leadership is now in place, and it will surely be instrumental in the delivery of the EU Space Programme. I look forward to seeing all AB Members participating in this journey of establishing a state-of-the-art, robust space EU Agency for the Space Programme,” concluded Rodrigo da Costa, EUSPA Executive Director.

Read the Czech version here: Tým správní rady EUSPA byl doplněn o nově zvoleného místopředsedu

Read the Spanish version here: El Consejo de Administración de la EUSPA se completa con la elección del nuevo Vicepresidente

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

The 14th International Conference on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation took place from 16-18th June 2021.

The 14th edition of the International Conference on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation (TRANSAV) took place online from 16-18 June 2021, bringing together scientists and professionals who shared their expertise and research results on all aspects of navigation at sea.  

EUSPA Market Development Technology Officer, Prof. Manuel Lopez, co-chaired the round table on GNSS, together with Prof. Cezary Specht, Head of the department of Geodesy and Oceanography of the Maritime University of Gdynia.

Maritime transportation is the backbone of the worldwide economic growth, representing 80% of the global merchant traffic, and a major domain of human and nature activity. Increased marine traffic and the need of accurate manoeuvring in ports are some challenges pilots are faced with. 

The maritime community is becoming more and more interested in using SBAS for ocean, coastal waters and harbour entrances/approaches especially where there is no DGNSS infrastructure or in poorly covered environments. EGNOS is already used to effectively complement DGNSS for the provision of enhanced accuracy (close to 1m) and integrity information.

Read this: EGNOS Safety of Life: Serving aviation for 10 years

SBAS systems like EGNOS are set to become a complementary augmentation technology for maritime users. The study of V. Anton et al. on the evolution of SBAS/EGNOS enabled devices in maritime, presented at TRANSNAV shows that currently around 90% of receivers in the market implement SBAS. However, these implementations are not certified following a maritime test standard. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) recently approved a new work item for the preparation of this standard in the next two years. The name of the standard is: IEC 61108-7 ED1 Maritime navigation and radiocommunication equipment and systems - Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) - Part 7: Satellite Based Augmentation Systems - Receiver Equipment - Performance requirements and method of testing. 

During the session moderated by Lopez, participants also had to opportunity to get a taste of how EGNOS performs in high latitudes and more specifically along the Finnish coasts. The study of R. Gonzalez et al. highlights EGNOS suitability in the border of its coverage area, showing an average accuracy of 0.815m in the Gulf of Finland.

The paper Low Bandwith Network-RTK correction dissemination for High Accuracy Maritime Navigation by S. Alissa et al., funded by EUSPA under H2020 project PREParE SHIPS (PREdicted Positioning based on EGNSS for Ships), was nominated as one of the best four papers of the conference. The study described a real-time kinematics network (NRTK) disseminating corrections for GNSS, including Galileo, by means of the modern maritime communication system VDES (VHF Data Exchange System).

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

The 14th International Conference on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation took place from 16-18th June 2021.

The 14th edition of the International Conference on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation (TRANSNAV) took place online from 16-18 June 2021, bringing together scientists and professionals who shared their expertise and research results on all aspects of navigation at sea.  

EUSPA Market Development Technology Officer, Prof. Manuel Lopez, co-chaired the round table on GNSS, together with Prof. Cezary Specht, Head of the department of Geodesy and Oceanography of the Maritime University of Gdynia.

Maritime transportation is the backbone of the worldwide economic growth, representing 80% of the global merchant traffic, and a major domain of human and nature activity. Increased marine traffic and the need of accurate manoeuvring in ports are some challenges pilots are faced with. 

The maritime community is becoming more and more interested in using SBAS for ocean, coastal waters and harbour entrances/approaches especially where there is no DGNSS infrastructure or in poorly covered environments. EGNOS is already used to effectively complement DGNSS for the provision of enhanced accuracy (close to 1m) and integrity information.

Read this: EGNOS Safety of Life: Serving aviation for 10 years

SBAS systems like EGNOS are set to become a complementary augmentation technology for maritime users. The study of V. Anton et al. on the evolution of SBAS/EGNOS enabled devices in maritime, presented at TRANSNAV shows that currently around 90% of receivers in the market implement SBAS. However, these implementations are not certified following a maritime test standard. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) recently approved a new work item for the preparation of this standard in the next two years. The name of the standard is: IEC 61108-7 ED1 Maritime navigation and radiocommunication equipment and systems - Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) - Part 7: Satellite Based Augmentation Systems - Receiver Equipment - Performance requirements and method of testing. 

During the session moderated by Lopez, participants also had to opportunity to get a taste of how EGNOS performs in high latitudes and more specifically along the Finnish coasts. The study of R. Gonzalez et al. highlights EGNOS suitability in the border of its coverage area, showing an average accuracy of 0.815m in the Gulf of Finland.

The paper Low Bandwith Network-RTK correction dissemination for High Accuracy Maritime Navigation by S. Alissa et al., funded by EUSPA under H2020 project PREParE SHIPS (PREdicted Positioning based on EGNSS for Ships), was nominated as one of the best four papers of the conference. The study described a real-time kinematics network (NRTK) disseminating corrections for GNSS, including Galileo, by means of the modern maritime communication system VDES (VHF Data Exchange System).

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).