Acquiring independent capability to detect, predict and assess the risk that space debris, near-Earth objects (NEO) and space weather pose to life, the environment and infrastructure

ESA’s Space Situational Awareness Programme (SSA) launched in 2009, with the goal of supporting Europe’s access to and utilisation of space, with specific a focus on the space environment and hazards that occupy it. SSA means that Europe will know what goes on in space by acquiring the independent capability to detect, predict and assess the risk that space debris objects, near-Earth objects (NEO) and space weather pose to life, the environment and infrastructure. Space-based systems have become indispensable to many of Europe’s critical services and functions, including communication, navigation and security. Any disruption to these space-based services could have significant negative implications for an enormous range of activities, including travel by land, air and sea, information technology, climate monitoring, weather forecasting and vitally, the delivery of emergency services. Europe’s access to information on what happens in our local space has to date been largely dependent on non-European sources and the goodwill of other spacefaring nations, and for this reason, Europe needs an autonomous SSA capability.