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The EU Space Programme Security Accreditation Board (SAB) plays a critical role in ensuring the security of the components of the EU Space Programme, both in space and on the ground. As the responsibilities of the SAB expand with the increasing components of the EU Space Programme, it remains dedicated to independently assessing the security of the program, instilling confidence in users to utilize EU Space services.

The EU Space Programme Security Accreditation Board (SAB) and EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) have entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) effective as of January 23, 2024, aimed at fortifying collaborative efforts in ensuring effective oversight of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) System and Operations.

"The MoC formalizes our commitment to enhancing the security and safety of air navigation services within the European Union. By establishing a cooperation between the SAB accreditation authorities and the EASA certification authorities, we aim to strengthen the oversight of the EGNOS system, contributing to its seamless operation and ensuring its compliance with the security standards," says Philippe Bertrand, Chair of the EU Space Programme Security Accreditation Board.

A key cooperation for proactively addressing the security accreditation

The MoC outlines the creation of a coordination Board, comprising representatives from both EASA and the SAB. This Board aims to facilitate coordination on various aspects, including accreditation and certification decisions and regulatory frameworks.

Dedicated coordination meetings are also set at various EGNOS stages of the accreditation and certification process, to facilitate the exchange of planned activities and assessment of outcomes from accreditation and certification oversight efforts.

"The collaboration between EASA and EUSP SAB signifies a milestone in ensuring the safety and reliability of the EGNOS System. By establishing dedicated coordination mechanisms, we seek to optimize our efforts in overseeing the system's operations and promptly addressing any emerging challenges," comments Luc Tytgat, Acting Executive Director of EASA.

"This collaboration exemplifies the synergies possible and how proactive our Security Accreditation Board is. By establishing clear modalities of collaboration, we are better positioned to address the evolving security needs of air navigation services and enhance the overall reliability of the EGNOS system, " adds Bertrand.

This Memorandum of Cooperation stands as a testament to the commitment of EUSP SAB and EASA towards fostering collaborative endeavours for the benefit of air navigation services in the European Union. 

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).

Space is becoming increasingly congested. More than one million space debris objects larger than 1 cm are travelling uncontrolled in Earth’s orbit, putting at risk our space infrastructure and space-based applications critical for our daily lives, such as navigation, communication and Earth observation. It is likely that this risk will increase, as 20,000 new satellites are expected to be launched in the next ten years. To address this challenge, the European Union established in 2014 the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking capability: EU SST.

What is EU SST?

EU SST is part of the EU Space Programme’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) component. It is the EU’s operational capability that safeguards space-based infrastructure, facilities and services, including spacecraft involved in Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus and GOVSATCOM, as well as satellites from Member States and other space operators. The EU SST Partnership, composed of 15 EU Member States, has networked its assets to provide, in cooperation with EUSPA as the EU SST Front Desk, three SST services: Collision Avoidance, Re-entry Analysis and Fragmentation Analysis.

Protecting space assets from Europe and beyond

In 2023, EU SST opened its Collision Avoidance service worldwide to all spacecraft operators, as foreseen in the EU Space Regulation. Today, more than 400 satellites are protected by EU SST from the risk of collision with space debris or other spacecraft, and approximately 100 of them are from non-EU operators – such as from the United States, Norway and Switzerland - numbers which are expected to continue growing. The expansion of the EU SST user community significantly contributes to the long-term sustainability of outer space activities: the more space assets are protected, the better our space environment is safeguarded.

The importance of EU SST has proven to be crucial to ensure the safety and sustainability of space activities. In 2023, EU SST detected 15,639 close approaches between space objects, of which 1000 were considered of high risk - requiring in some cases collision avoidance manoeuvres performed by the satellite operators -, and monitored 127 re-entries of space objects into Earth’s atmosphere and 6 in-orbit fragmentations. 

The EU SST Front Desk delivered alerts, based on the information generated by national Operations Centres, to the registered users of the SST services.

The network of sensors from the Member States of EU SST, located across the globe, gathered last year more than 444,000 measurements of space objects per day, thus playing an essential role in the provision of services. These data are shared through a database, and analysed and processed by the Operations Centres to generate the EU SST services.

EUSPA, the EU SST Front Desk

EUSPA is responsible for the EU SST Front Desk operations since 1 July 2023. The Front Desk is the interface for the provision of the EU SST services to currently more than 190 organisations. It operates and maintains the SST Portal, manages service requests, provides support to users, and is responsible for user uptake, performance monitoring and communication activities. 

Looking ahead

In 2024, as the backbone of the EU’s approach to Space Traffic Management (STM), EU SST will work to improve the performance of its current services and develop new ones, enhance its core capabilities and develop new technologies, relying as much as possible on the European SSA commercial ecosystem. EUSPA, in its role as the EU SST Front Desk, will continue supporting a growing community of SST users, enhancing the SST Portal with new features, such as visualisation, coordination and communication tools, and contributing to the security monitoring of the EU SST system.

You can learn more about EU SST here or by reading its leaflet and factsheet.

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).

Whether caused by nature or human activity, the on-going disasters in our continent highlight the necessity for innovative tools and solutions for resilient risk management and response. The objective is to safeguard lives and protect properties.

With end-users always at the centre of its action, the EU Space Programme continues to evolve, offering services that contribute to the safety and well-being of European citizens. One such service is the upcoming Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service (EWSS), currently under development and testing by the Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space, together with the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA).

So, what exactly is the Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service?

EWSS is an upcoming service of the Galileo constellation, which will be disseminating alert messages directly to the population of areas threatened by a looming natural or manmade disaster. More specifically, the Galileo satellites will be transmitting to smartphones, or to any other navigation devices able to receive Galileo signals (through a chipset), information related to the hazard (such as type of hazard, its severity, time of onset and expected duration, the targeted area) and instructions to follow depending on the area the user is located at. The alert content will be generated by national authorities and transmitted to Galileo for broadcast.

The real added value of EWSS

This service comes on top of existing alert systems but, as EWSS Manager at the European Commission, Eric Guyader explains, “for reaching the highest number of people in case of danger, the more alert systems the better. And this new service offers an important advantage: it remains available also when other alert systems like mobile networks are congested, disrupted or even destroyed”. 

EUSPA Galileo exploitation programme Manager, Guerric Pont confirms, “we continue to broaden the link between users and space, where EWSS will ensure the distribution of alert messages and guidance to safeguard populations, on top of best-of-class navigation data.”

This is particularly useful for people who live in remote and rural regions of Europe with poor or no mobile signal at all. It can also be proved lifesaving when traditional terrestrial alert systems are unavailable due to high traffic, or damage as is regularly the case with earthquakes, floods or fires for example.  

Preparing for the service declaration in 2025

While the service is expected to become operational in 2025, it has already been successfully tested in different sites across the Union. According to the latest tests carried out with several national civil protection agencies, the alert message can be transmitted and received by every user located in the danger area, in less than 60 seconds.

Once operational, it will be offered free of charge to national civil protection authorities across the EU27. It will be up to the EU Member States to decide whether they activate it to disseminate their alerts via the Galileo satellites in space. 

Together with the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, EWSS will become a strategic asset to support the policies of the European Union and its Member States in the field of disaster management.

Ahead of the declaration in 2025, the European Commission together with the EU Agency for the Space Programme published today the Common Alert Message Format Specifications document.

The technical document contains important information regarding the format of the alert message, to be used for encoding (resp. decoding) the alert information into (resp. from) the Galileo signals. The document is useful for EU MS to start implementing EWSS in their national alert systems, for receiver manufacturers to introduce the necessary functionalities in navigation devices, and for any satellite navigation systems willing to broadcast alert messages encapsulated in their satellite navigation signals.

For more information and technical details, click here.

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).