Safety and security

When lives are at stake, EU Space safety and security services play a key role. From forecasting drought risk to guiding humanitarian aid and response, each component of the EU Space Programme plays an important part in protecting communities.  

Europe has never been more prepared to save lives  

How do the different EU Space components work together when people’s lives are at risk?   

• Copernicus provides emergency services ranging from risk assessments of potential crises to mapping crisis-affected areas for efficient response and recovery operations.  
• Galileo's Search and Rescue service detects distress signals with sub-2km accuracy and forwards alerts to rescue coordination centres within 10 minutes. 
• EGNOS improves positioning precision for emergency vehicles and aerial operations, which is especially crucial in challenging terrain. 
• GOVSATCOM ensures uninterrupted communications between emergency responders when terrestrial networks fail 

Efforts to counter climate change-induced disasters and pollution are growing increasingly important. The EU Space Programme is already bolstering the EU’s response to the consequences of wildfires, floods, and droughts. For example, it provided detailed mapping of the wildfires which occurred in the summer of 2025, providing detailed and accessible information for all users on their extent and consequent damage.  

The EUSPace4Ukraine platform connects innovators of tech solutions to humanitarian NGOs and helpers on the ground. The EU Space components support aid operations in Ukraine in a number of ways:  

• Copernicus provides insights on the war’s impact on Ukrainian agriculture 
• Galileo powers drones for Search-And-Rescue operations  to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine
• EU Space technologies enable various applications, from medical supply delivery drones using Galileo positioning to agricultural recovery planning using Copernicus crop monitoring data 

Helping Europe address the greatest challenges of our time  

The EU Space Programme will be indispensable to achieving Europe’s strategic safety and security objectives in the 21st century.   

To that end, Copernicus data and services are integral to partnerships with EU agencies in implementing the following services:    

• Border surveillance with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) 
• Maritime surveillance with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) 
• Support for EU external and security actions with the EU Satellite Centre (SatCen)  

 The EU Space Programme combines Earth Observation (Copernicus), satellite navigation (Galileo/EGNOS), secure communications (GOVSATCOM/IRIS²), and space surveillance (SSA) components to provide Member States with comprehensive space-based capabilities for safety, security, and strategic autonomy. The provision of these services is essential for the delivery of humanitarian aid, implementation of safety and security operations, protection of vital public services from malicious attacks, and much more.   

EUSPA’s Horizon 2020 user-driven GEO-VISION project provided ‘global situational awareness’ through interactive, mission-critical visual communication software to support disaster response efforts. With ‘observation to action’ results in under a minute, the project illustrated what could be achieved by integrating EU Space’s Earth Observation (Copernicus) and Satellite Navigation (Galileo) components.   

The United Nations and the World Bank use the applications and services of the GEO VISION project. A notable example of its usage was in the aftermath of an earthquake in Nepal, during which GEO VISION mapping helped increase the efficiency of search and rescue operations.

The new theatre of EU operations  

EU Space safety and security services will continue to grow. With components like IRIS² and GOVSATCOM, EU Space will soon provide even more opportunities to foster safety and security. Here are just a few of the policies it supports today:  

• EU Space helps reduce and mitigate disaster risks as part of the EU Disaster Risk Management policy. 
• EU Space is the cornerstone for the EU Strategy for Security and Defence, which provides a strong, independent basis for action against any threats to space and land infrastructure. 
• The EU’s diplomatic and humanitarian efforts already benefit from EU Space’s support (particularly through satellite imagery to assist their operations), and will soon benefit from IRIS²’s state-of-the-art connectivity.  

Despite the vast potential of data and services from the EU Space Programme, gaps in awareness, skills and operational integration limit their impact.

In response to a request from the European Parliament and coordinated by the European Commission’s DG DEFIS, the EU-funded SUNSHINE project addresses these gaps by building capacity and driving user uptake where it matters most, through training seminars, technical support, exercises and recommendations tailored to the needs of civil protection. In line with the goals of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and DG ECHO’s EU Disaster Resilience Goals, SUNSHINE helps disaster response authorities turn EU space innovation into a faster, smarter and more effective disaster response.