Twenty-one EU and Norwegian civilian spacecraft operators and 14 military operators have agreed the final version of a report setting out shared requirements for space traffic management.
The operators ranged from start-ups to major companies, with the military side coordinated by the European Defence Agency (EDA), the Commission reported on Monday.
The work followed two years of cooperation, with meetings held between May 2024 and April 2026.
The Commission said civilian operators contributed through a dedicated expert group within the EU’s Space Traffic Management (STM) Stakeholder Mechanism, while the EDA gathered input from EU military operators and constituents. STM refers to the coordination and rules used to help spacecraft operate safely in orbit, including avoiding collisions and managing congestion.
A report compiling the civilian and military requirements was put together by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) and the European External Action Service (EEAS), consulting both operator communities during drafting.
The report is accompanied by scenarios describing situations operators commonly face in orbit.
A publicly available executive summary has been published online, while the full report is available to the operator community.
Report to be updated as needs change
The finalised requirements complete “Action 1” of the EU’s 2022 Joint Communication on an EU approach to space traffic management, the Commission said.
The requirements in the report are expected to evolve, and the operators, DG DEFIS, the EEAS and the EDA have agreed to continue discussions and update the document as new needs emerge.
DG DEFIS and the EEAS said they will also explore options to help implement the requirements listed in the report.
