News

The recent signature by President Trump of Space Policy Directive 4 triggered the process to set up a Space Force for the United States. This decision is actually part of a broader move aiming at responding to an increasingly threatening global space context. Sharing the impression that their space assets are vulnerable, states are starting to think about their protection. ESPI Executive Brief 30 discusses these new developments and their implications for Europe.

The Autumn Conference is a yearly ESPI event where policy and industry stakeholders in the space sector come together to discuss issues that affect Europe and the rest of the world. This year’s Autumn Conference will address the topic of "European Space Diplomacy" to discuss ways to strengthen Europe’s role as a global actor and promoting international cooperation.

From 24 to 26 March 2019, the German Presidency of the European Interparliamentary Space Conference (EISC) under the Chairmanship of Klaus-Peter Willsch, MdB, organised its annual spring workshop in Bremen, Germany. 

In preparation to the ESA Space19+ ministerial council, the topic chosen for this year is “Outlook on The ESA Ministerial Council 2019: SSA and ISS in the spotlight”.

ESPI Director was invited to talk at the last Friends of Europe's  European Young Leaders seminar that took place in London 5th from 14 to 16th March 2019. This  seminar was a unique opportunity to meet  European Young Leaders and alumni in an informal setting and discuss key European challenges, including space exploration, which has long been at the centre of scientific and political discourses.

ESPI Resident Fellow Tomas Hrozensky participated at the 5th Annual Space Traffic Management Conference “Progress through Collaboration”, which took place on the 26th and 27th February 2019 at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, TX, USA. The ESPI presentation providing an overview of the current ESPI research on space traffic management as well as video recordings of both sessions, to which Tomas Hrozensky contributed, are available online.

As societal reliance on space infrastructure increases along with the sensitivity of many economic sectors to the effects of Space Weather (SWE), the all-round delivery of operational SWE services will become of crucial importance.