New satellites will soon reinforce the performance of the GMES earth observation system (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), further to an agreement signed in Brussels today by the European Space Agency (ESA) Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain and Heinz Zourek, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry Policy. GMES is a European Union-led initiative organised in partnership with ESA to combine ground and space-based observations to develop an integrated environmental and security monitoring capability. The data produced through this infrastructure will give a better understanding of the earth’s land surface, its atmosphere and its oceans, and support emergency and security services. In particular, these data allow for a better management of environmental and security crises.
[European Commission Press Release]

On 26 July 2007, the United States and the European Union announced their agreement to jointly adopt and provide an improved design for their respective Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. These signals will be implemented on the Galileo Open Service and the GPS IIIA new civil signal.
[European Commission Press Release]

The European Commission adopted a communication on the state of play of the Galileo program in response to a request from the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. The European Commission notes that the Galileo roadmap needs adapting to meet the deadline of 2012 by when Galileo should be fully operable. The public-private partnership set up to implement Galileo needs to be reprofiled to enable Galileo to be brought into service in 2012.
[European Commission Press Release]

Emergency services and communications, navigation systems, live sports, news and weather coverage and financial transactions: day-to-day life in Europe depends more and more on space applications. To ensure a leading European role in these socially and economically important fields EU countries are to join hands to successfully develop powerful space systems and technologies. Therefore a comprehensive political framework for the development of a viable and strong space sector has been tabled jointly by the European Commission and the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA). The proposal focuses in particular on making more effective use of resources by combining efforts, as single Member States would not be able to face global challenges. Space is a strategic and high value-added growth sector on which the economy relies. The communication of the Commission and the General Director of ESA will be sent for endorsement to the European Space Council, a joint meeting of Competitiveness ministers and ESA representatives from Member States, which will discuss the new policy. [European Commission Press Release]

The EU is very concerned about a recent weapons test where a Chinese missile destroyed a Chinese satellite. [EU Presidency Press Release]

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1321/2004 on the establishment of structures for the management of the European satellite radio-navigation programs [[2006] OJ C 324/41]

Council Joint Action 2006/998/CFSP of 21 December 2006 amending Joint Action 2001/555/CFSP on the establishment of a European Union Satellite Centre [[2006] OJ L 405/60]

The European Union and Morocco today formally signed an agreement for co-operation on the European satellite radio navigation programme GALILEO. The agreement covers a large number of areas of cooperation, including joint activities in the field of scientific research and training, industrial cooperation, trade and market development, standards, certification and regulatory measures. [European Commission Press Release]