Eurospace Initial Guidance Paper "(Starting to) pave the way for the future of EU Space R&I"

— POSITION PAPER AVAILABLE HERE —

The European Commission’s DG DEFIS is currently reflecting on the elaboration of a dedicated Space R&I Strategy at EU level. An R&I Strategy is one of the key pillars of a much-needed technology strategy, itself part of a future European-wide Industrial Strategy for Space.

In this context, the objective for the European space industry is that this R&I Strategy contributes to ensure the on-time availability of needed/advanced technologies – with the appropriate maturity and performance, the required level of non-dependence, and at competitive conditions – for risk mitigated implementation in the European institutional programmes, and in the commercial programmes where Industry faces an increasingly harsh competition.

Indeed, as the European space sector needs to be competitive in order to be sustainable (contrary to what happens in all other space powers), Europe shall be able to bridge the current gaps and keep ahead of its competitors. This can only be achieved with appropriate funding effort, and with a stronger and sustainable commitment of all stakeholders under the industrial leadership for the definition, implementation and coordination of the activities related to its competitiveness on the open markets.

Of course, Industry insists that the EU actions in Space R&I shall be considered as part of a future wider Space Industrial Strategy whose main goal shall be to preserve, secure and further strengthen Europe’s world-class capacity to conceive, develop, launch, operate and exploit the space systems it needs for the implementation of its public policies, its security and its economic growth.

The European space industry, represented by Eurospace, wishes to share its vision on the future of EU Space R&I in its Initial Guidance Paper “(Starting to) pave the way for the future of EU Space R&I”, available HERE.