Forum Europe’s Annual European Space Forum took place in Brussels on 24 - 25 June 2024. Over 340 participants from 24 countries and more than 60 high-level speakers gathered to discuss pertinent topics such as the EU single market for space, space sustainability, and ensuring long-term autonomous access to space. Read on for a recap of the discussions, and view the best moments in our highlights video.

 

From left to right: Timo Pesonen, Director-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), European Commission; Aarti Holla Maini, Director at UNOOSA; Thomas Dermine, State Secretary for Economic Recovery and Strategic Investments, Government of Belgium; Orsolya Ferencz, Ministerial Commissioner for Space Research, Government of Hungary; Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director at EUSPA; Josef Aschbacher, Director General at ESA; Eva Berneke, Vice Chair at GSOA; Hermann Ludwig Moeller, Director at ESPI

 

The conference began with a series of keynote speeches from:

• Timo Pesonen, Director-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), European Commission 
• Aarti Holla Maini, Director at UNOOSA
• Thomas Dermine, State Secretary for Economic Recovery and Strategic Investments, Government of Belgium
• Orsolya Ferencz, Ministerial Commissioner for Space Research, Government of Hungary
• Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director at EUSPA
• Josef Aschbacher, Director General at ESA
• Eva Berneke, Vice Chair at GSOA
• Hermann Ludwig Moeller, Director at ESPI

 

Timo Pesonen, Director-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), European Commission

"Today we gathered to discuss the future of space in Europe under the crucial theme of sustainability and its intersection with other key elements such as competition, innovation, security and connectivity. It’s a very timely moment to discuss space. Not only because of geographical situation in Europe which is dramatic - Russian aggression against an independent sovereign state of Ukraine in our neighborhood; crisis in Middle East is worsening; and at the same time the European Commission is at the crossroads with the start of the new commission soon this Autumn and we are starting to prepare the next multiannual financial framework."  Timo Pesonen, Director-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), European Commission

 

In Session 2, Guillaume de La Brosse, Head of Unit, DG DEFIS, and Gisela Süss, Head of the Legal Services Department at ESA, were joined by experts from Eutelsat Group, Neuraspace, Amazon and ESPI to discuss space sustainability, and the balance between binding regulation and the space race. They reflected on how the EU Space Law can drive Europe’s role as a responsible and leading space player, and how valuable voluntary codes of conduct, charters and ratings are in enabling space sustainability.

 

Session 2: Space Sustainability – Binding Regulation -v- The Space Race

"I really want to highlight that competitiveness is really at the heart of what we are doing on top of providing clarity on three chapters: safety rules, resilience rules and sustainability rules. We will ensure at DG DEFIS that this piece of law [EUSL] will be on the agenda of the next commission very soon. We’ll make the case, we’ll try to convince the top leaders but because it’s an evidence based piece of law, we are quite confident it will indeed be on the agenda." Guillaume de la Brosse, Head of Unit, Innovation and New Space – Space Defence, DG DEFIS, European Commission

After lunch, Session 3 explored the path to a self-reliant European space supply chain, and how to ensure economic security. Christine Klein, Head of Industrial Policy & Auditing Department, ESA, and Marc Serres, CEO at the Luxembourg Space Agency, were joined by experts from Enpulsion, Eurospace and GSOA. 

 

Next, Session 4 focused on ensuring long term autonomous access to space for Europe. The panel dissected the European ‘launcher crisis’ and what actions have been taken to remedy it. Specifically, the experts explored what is being done to get more European launchers to the launchpad, and what a successful European launcher policy looks like. Isabella Poldrugo, Acting Head of Unit, DG DEFIS, and Toni Tolker-Nielsen, Acting Director of Space Transportation, ESA lead the discussion, with PLD Space, Arianespace and Eurospace representatives. 

 

Session 4: Ensuring long term autonomous access to space for Europe

"We are very enthusiastic about all the startups all over Europe [...] and we actually want to grow these launchers through what we call the European launcher challenge. We will support the next step towards these heavier launchers and we will work with the Commission to aggregate the institutional need all over Europe but we believe that there is room for some payloads to our European guaranteed access to space. For some time it will be Ariane 6 and Vega C but as we grow, these small launchers will become bigger and we want them to bring some good competition to our institutional launchers." Toni Tolker-Nielsen, Acting Director of Space Transportation, European Space Agency (ESA)

Wrapping up Day One, Mauro Facchini, Head of Unit, DG DEFIS, Nicolaus Hanowski, Head of Mission Management & Ground Segments at ESA, and Pascale Ultré-Guérard, Deputy Director for Programs at CNES were joined by experts from VITO, Airbus Defence and Space, and Euronews. They discussed how we can harness the power of space data for a more sustainable and prosperous future, and how the availability and accessibility of space data has transformed our understanding of Earth’s environment.

 

Day Two began with Session 6, exploring technology and policy solutions to make the space sector greener. Stela Tkatchova, Programme Manager for EISMEA, and Andrew Williams, External Relations Officer at ESO and Policy Lead at IAU CPS, were joined by representatives from OKAPI:Orbits, ESSI, and Aerospace GMV. 

 

Session 6: Greening the Space Sector – Exploring technology and policy solutions

"For every next mission we need to think about having de-orbiting capabilities but also to be able to repair satellites in orbit [...]  I think we are quite late in waking up. We should have woken up 10 years ago. The problem with developing deorbiting solutions is who’s going to pay for that? I think the commercial sustainability market will push technology maturation [...] but it’s also about standards." Stela Tkatchova, Programme Manager for Space, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) 

Next, Gerasimos Sofianatos, Head of Unit, DG CONNECT, Julie Kearney, Chief, Space Bureau at the FCC and Luciana Camargos, Head of Spectrum at GSMA were joined by Viasat and GSOA representatives to discuss the future of converged connectivity. They unpacked the challenges and opportunities of direct-to-device and hybrid connectivity, exploring emerging market players, use cases and drivers and how these are set to evolve as the market grows and technologies mature. 

The focus for Session 8 was Space for a Secure Europe: From IRIS² to Quantum Encryption and Beyond. The panel included Christophe Grudler, Member & Rapporteur on the EU Secure Connectivity Initiative at the European Parliament, and Jérémie Godet, Head of Unit, DG DEFIS. Experts from ST Engineering iDirect, GMV, Reflex Aerospace and Euronews completed the panel.

 

Session 8: Space for a Secure Europe: From IRIS² to Quantum Encryption and Beyond

"Everybody wants to be a part of it [Iris2] from the smallest entity to the largest entity, from different nations, however you need to tear down a couple of barriers and you need to make it profitable." Koen Willems, VP of EU Programs and Government Relations, ST Engineering iDirect (Europe)

After lunch, Dinka Dinkova, Deputy Head of Unit, DG DEFIS, and Stefano Cont, Director, Capability, Armament and Planning at the EDA were joined by representatives from ICEYE and ESPI. They focused on strategic approaches to space policy and defence, exploring the challenges and opportunities presented with the rise of non-state actors in critical international security crises, and what partnerships will be necessary to give the strategy effective and decisive implementation. 

The penultimate session looked into Europe’s role in shaping the future of space, and how we can leverage strengths for global leadership. Marjolijn van Deelen, EU Special Envoy for Space, and Head of Division for Space at EEAS, Jolanda Van Eijnndthoven, Head of Unit, DG DEFIS, and Anabelle Fonseca, Senior Administrator at ESA, were joined by representatives from DLR GfR, Amazon and dotSPACE.

 

The final session of the conference saw Frank Monteny, Director General, Research and Space, Federal Science Policy at the Belgian Science Policy Office,Niklas Nienaß, Member of the European Parliament, and key representatives from GSOA, Eurospace and PeriHelion discuss creating a blueprint to ensure the future of the European space sector. The panel of experts focused on the key pillars of sustainability, resilience, economic security, investment sovereignty and cooperation.

 

Session 11: Bringing It All Together – A blueprint to ensure the future of the European space sector

"The most important thing for Europe to succeed is [...] teamwork - industry, regulators, policymakers all together with their brains together and seeing what are the next steps and how to take them." Natalia Vicente, VP Public Affairs, GSOA

 

Highlights Video | The European Space Forum 2024

 

 

Thank you to all speakers and delegates who participated in the event, and particularly to our event sponsors and partners ESPI, GSOA, Airbus Defence and Space, Amazon, DLR GfR, Enpulsion, Eumetsat, Eutelsat, GMV, Hispasat, ICEYE, Neuraspace, Okapi Orbits, PLD Space, ST Engineering iDirect, Viasat, Aalyria, Comarch, Reflex Aerospace, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Aerospacelab, Encompass, Euronews, Groundstation Space and Spacewatch Global. 

 

Stay up to date on next year’s conference by signing up to keep informed here, and should you wish to be involved in next year’s edition of this event in 2025, please reach out to the team via email at space@forum-europe.com.

 

"Space is found to be at the heart of the upcoming political developments […] and we need to seize this opportunity to create a future space policy that positions the European Union at the forefront on the global stage." Timo Pesonen, Director-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), European Commission 

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