How and why the EU law on space is struggling
The European Commission is postponing two key space initiatives until the summer (at least after the European elections in June): on the one hand the law on space and on the other the awarding of the contract to develop the Iris2 satellite constellation
We still have to wait for the European law on space.
At the meeting of the EU Parliamentary Committee for Industry, Research and Energy on 9 April, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton announced that the release of a legislative proposal for a European space law, expected in early this year, it will likely be delayed until after the parliamentary elections in June, SpaceNews reports.
“We know we are entering the election campaign and we all understand that, therefore, things may take a little longer. Therefore, work on this issue will resume after the summer,” Breton said, referring to the proposed law, which he described as “in the very early stages” and “not yet mature”.
At the same time, the award of a contract to develop the Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security Satellite (IRIS²) infrastructure constellation with the aim of providing secure broadband connectivity is also postponed. Just last month the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso announced that the control center of the new European Iris2 satellite constellation will be created at the Fucino Space Center of Telespazio, a joint venture between the Italian Leonardo (67%) and the French Thales (33%).
In the meantime, there is also anticipation for the Italian law on space, a legislative measure to regulate the rapidly growing sector in our country, initially expected at the beginning of the year.
All the details.
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE EU PROPOSAL FOR A LAW ON SPACE
The European Commission has revealed few details about what the bill will contain. The law, if passed, would regulate ongoing developments in space, including traffic management, sustainability and cybersecurity. Breton and other officials have said it will help create a "single market" for space in the EU by harmonizing differences in national space laws. The development of an EU space law has also been included among Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's priorities for 2024.
SpaceNews also writes that a member of the European Parliament, Niklas Nienass, invited Breton to speed up the approval of the space bill: “Please release it even before the elections because we can still start working on it while we take the political decision after the elections .”
Another committee member, however, was not concerned about the delay. “We look forward to the draft European space law, but of course we understand the difficulties,” Christophe Grudler said, citing the upcoming elections. “If we take a few more months, it's not that bad. We need a good, solid proposal to end the Wild West in space.”
WAITING FOR THE CONTRACT FOR IRIS2
But another European space initiative also seems to be on standby at the moment.
Spacenews also reports that the European Commission has suspended the awarding of a contract to develop the Iris² constellation.
It was February 2023 when the European Parliament almost unanimously approved the proposal for a regulation establishing the Union program for secure connectivity for the period 2023-2027. The program aims for the European Union to have its own constellation of 5 satellites called “Iris2 ” (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security via Satellite) which should ensure secure communication services by 2027.
Afterwards, in March last year Brussels launched a tender to start this project, built on the basis of a public-private partnership. At the end of May the European Commission selected a consortium composed of Airbus Defense & Space, Eutelsat, Hispasat, SES and Thales Alenia Space, also supported by Deutsche Telekom, OHB SE, Orange, Hisdesat, Telespazio and Thales Group which had to present the proposals initial design, cost, time and private sector investments.
In January the industry consortium said they were completing their final proposal to the constellation commission, with the expectation of awarding the contract by the end of March.
THE POSITION OF COMMISSIONER BRETON
Breton said during the parliamentary committee meeting that the committee is still working to finalize the contract and did not estimate when it will be completed. “There is an independent committee that is working on the evaluation process,” he said, declining to provide further details on the matter. “The work is carried out with extreme seriousness.”
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/come-e-perche-arranca-la-legge-ue-sullo-spazio/ on Thu, 18 Apr 2024 05:44:29 +0000.