European Parliament member sees support for EU Space Act there

BREMEN, Germany — A member of the European Parliament said there is widespread support there for the proposed European Union Space Act, while acknowledging that the draft version released this summer can be refined.

Speaking at Space Tech Expo Europe here Nov. 20, Christophe Grudler, a member of Parliament from France, said discussions among political groups have recently started on advancing the act, which is intended to create a unified European market for space and implement space safety and security rules.

“We have a shared view today with all the political groups,” he said, “that everybody understands that space is becoming dangerously close to a ‘far west’ scenario. You launch thousands of satellites and never mind what the others think. It’s clear we can’t continue like that.”

Various companies, organizations and agencies submitted more than 100 comments during a consultation process that concluded earlier this month. Many of the comments, particularly from Americans, were critical of the “unacceptable regulatory burdens,” in the words of the U.S. State Department, that the current version of the bill would impose on American companies operating in the EU.

Grudler said concerns about the bill fall into two broad categories. “Some may reject the Space Act simply because it changes the status quo,” he said, which he called unacceptable. “I don’t want to discover in real life the Kessler syndrome,” the hypothesized chain reaction of orbital debris collisions that could render some orbits unusable.

A second category of concerns came from European governments. “A few national governments may try to defend their own national rules,” he said, without identifying the countries or rules in question.

He argued that such positions conflict with the act’s goal of harmonizing European space regulations. “Fragmentation is the enemy of competitiveness,” he said. “Most of the member states agree with the principles of the Space Act.”

He acknowledged there is room for improvement in the first draft released in June. “First, we’ll simplify the text,” he said. “There are some redundancies in the text. We’ll find a better way.”

The draft text’s release was only the start of a long process for the act to become law. Grudler said a first vote on the legislation is possible in May or June next year. That would lead to final adoption in 2027, triggering a transition period for the new rules to take effect.

That matches a timetable provided by a European Commission official at the conference Nov. 18. Rodolphe Muñoz, team leader for space situational awareness and space traffic management in the commission’s space directorate, said he expected a first vote by Parliament next summer, after an updated draft of the act is released, potentially by the end of this year.

“The idea is to be ready at the end of the decade for the application of this regulation,” Grudler said. “If companies start feeling the impact by the end of this decade, that would be great.”

If successful, he concluded, the act would create “a safer, more predictable orbital environment” with faster authorizations for European space activities. “It will create strong European companies able to compete and export on global markets.”