Space Team Europe
A high-level forum bringing together all European space ecosystem stakeholder.
Space Team Europe in a nutshell
Space Team Europe is a high-level forum bringing together all European space ecosystem stakeholders: Member States, the Commission, the EU Space Programme Agency, the European Space Agency (ESA), space industry, SMEs, and research organisations. Through this mechanism, the European Union aims to federate European space-related excellence and capacities in a coherent and efficient manner.
Given the complex governance of the European space ecosystem, the Space Team Europe’s purpose is to identify areas where all stakeholders agree that political guidance and coordination is needed, and to develop a cross-cutting space economy agenda at EU, national, and intergovernmental level allowing for political coordination and strategic conclusions.
The Space Team Europe therefore meets on a regular basis to enable open exchange between stakeholders and public decision-makers on these priorities.
Why is Space Team Europe important for our Union?
The European Union has strong existing assets in space science, research and technologies, systems, data and services, as well as state-of-the-art industrial capacities and a highly skilled workforce. Given the new landscape in the space economy, which involves rapid and disruptive innovation and increased roles for governmental, military actors and new space companies, these assets must now be realigned within dynamic public and private partnerships that favour agility, flexibility, proactivity and adaptability.
The experience provided by NextGenerationEU as applied in the space sector, calling for synergies and combining resources at EU and national level, has been instrumental in further valorising the inclusive engagement of all space ecosystem stakeholders in agreeing and implementing policies and programmes that serve common objectives. Hence, this new paradigm of inclusive engagement and cooperation should be institutionalised through Space Team Europe.
Space Team Europe main group
The Space Team Europe is chaired by Commissioner Kubilius for Defence and Space, with other members at Ministerial or equivalent level for Member States and CEO or President level for industry. Members can be accompanied by a "Sherpa" who prepares the work and follows up on the guidelines provided by the Group. In line with its high-level nature, the main group's mandate consists of two core tasks:
- Provide a platform of open exchange on major priorities in the EU space sector, between stakeholders and public decision-makers.
- Prepare a European Space Master Plan, a roadmap toward implementing the actions set out in the "Vision for the European Space Economy" Communication.
The Group also advises the Commission on a specific methodology dedicated to space, to monitor its contribution to EU competitiveness and the EU's share of the global space economy.