DG DEFIS contributes to UN Lisbon Declaration on Outer Space at UNOOSA/Portuguese Space Agency Space Sustainability Conference
On 14-15 May 2024, DG DEFIS attended the ‘Management and Sustainability of Outer Space Activities’ conference organised by UNOOSA and the Portuguese Space Agency in Lisbon, Portugal. During the session on ‘Space Traffic Management & Space Sustainability’, DG DEFIS exchanged views with representatives from GEOSAT, Avanti, NOAA, KARI, Vyoma and the African Union Commission on the need to keep space traffic manageable in light of rapidly increasing space activities to maintain space sustainability, and therefore access to and operations in space, for generations to come.
The main outcomes of this conference resulted in the ‘Lisbon Declaration on Outer Space’ which stresses the need to ‘ensur[e] that outer space remains a safe, sustainable and inclusive domain for generations to come’ through ‘government and multi-stakeholder cooperation’ and ‘international coordination to foster transparency, clarity and consistency of relevant policies and regulations’.
The Lisbon Declaration, in turn, fed into an action on ‘strengthen[ing] international cooperation for the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all humanity’ in the UN Pact for the Future, an outcome document of the Summit of the Future which took place on 20-23 September 2024 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, U.S.
Background
DG DEFIS’ participation in this event supports the implementation of avenue four on ‘promoting the EU STM approach globally’ of the EU approach on STM.
More information
Supporting Material
The Pact for the Future, adopted at the 2024 UN Summit, is the most wide-ranging international agreement in decades. It covers sustainable development, peace, climate, AI governance, and space traffic management, with annexes on digital cooperation and future generations.
JOINT COMMUNICATION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL An EU Approach for Space Traffic Management An EU contribution addressing a global challenge
An EU Approach for Space Traffic Management
The EU approach on Space Traffic Management (STM) proposed by the Commission and the High Representative therefore aims at keeping space operations safe, space orbits usable, and space accessible for decades to come while ensuring and further fostering the competitiveness of the EU space industry.
EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST) is the cornerstone of EU STM strategy. EU SST fosters innovation and supports European industrial capabilities for strategic autonomy. The EU Industry and Start-ups Forum on STM (EISF) unites stakeholders to define R&D priorities.