Dear Readers,
The main thematic chapter of this issue deals with the use of space, which has symbolic power like no other field of technology. Space is a global common good and all states are free to explore and use it.
Civilian space technologies and services have become essential to our daily lives for communication and navigation. Satellites also provide immediate information about disasters, help secure transportation and energy infrastructure and are a valuable tool in the field of climate research. The European Earth Observation programme COPERNICUS and the EU’s Global Navigation Satellite System GALILEO are European success stories. The EU institutions and agencies such as the European Union Satellite Centre (SATCEN) in Torrejón, Spain, or the European Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) in Prague, work efficiently and future-oriented. The European Space Agency (ESA) strongly supports the European space policy.
However, against the background of the current geopolitical context of increasing power competition and threat intensification, the first ever EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence of March 2023 is a welcome move. The new strategy proposes action to protect European space assets, defend the EU’s interests, deter hostile activities in space and strengthen the Union’s strategic posture and autonomy.
These are essential measures for our future, in view of the serious challenges in outer space. Russia and China have carried out successful tests to prove that they can use anti-satellite systems to shoot down any satellite in space. Furthermore, the fast-growing amount of space debris is an increasing threat to vulnerable high-tech space systems.
Edition no51 of this magazine takes up these topics, asks space experts and scientists about research and industrial developments and invites those responsible from politics, EU institutions, think tanks and industry to give their views on the problems described above and possible solutions.
We wish you an insightful reading!
