The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the report by Amelia ANDERSDOTTER (Greens/EFA, SE) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a space surveillance and tracking support programme (SST).
The committee recommended that the position of the European Parliament adopted in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:
Overall objectives: Members specified that the SST support programme should contribute to ensuring the long-term availability of European and national space infrastructure facilities and services essential for the safety and security of the economies, societies and citizens in Europe, by equipping the European Union with an autonomous space surveillance and tracking system.
Specific objectives: the programme should contribute to the following specific objectives:
· assessing and reducing the risks to in-orbit operations of European spacecraft in terms of collisions, enabling spacecraft operators to more efficiently plan and carry out mitigation measures;
· reducing the risks relating to the launch of European spacecraft;
· surveying uncontrolled re-entries of spacecraft or space debris into the Earth's atmosphere and providing more accurate and efficient early warnings with the aim of reducing the potential risks to the safety of Union citizens and mitigating potential damage to critical terrestrial infrastructure.
Main actions: the report proposed to define the establishment of the networking of sensors, of the processing of data and of the SST services as main actions rather than objectives, from which specific actions will be developed by the Commission in its multiannual work programme.
SST services: these must include a freely available and re-usable public information service on orbital elements of space objects orbiting the Earth.
Commissions role: this should: (i) be responsible for the SST support programme, manage the funds allocated, while providing transparency and clarity regarding the different sources of funding; (ii) define the governance and the data policy for the European SST service; (iii) ensure, in addition, the necessary dialogue and coordination bringing together relevant actors such as European Defence Agency (EDA) and European Space Agency (ESA) in view of ensuring coherence between military and civilian space programmes.
Use and exchange of SST data and information: Members stressed that efficient operations should be ensured and the use of the generated SST information should be maximised while preventing the unauthorised disclosure of SST data and information.
SST data and information generated in the framework of the SST support programme should be made available, including to third countries, on a need-to-know basis, in accordance with the instructions and security rules of the originator of the SST information and of the owner of the space object concerned.
Financing: the amount of Union funding allocated to the SST support programme for the period 2014-2020 will be EUR 70 million. Up to EUR 26.5 million may also come from the Copernicus programme.
Planning: in order to ensure proper planning of the programme, the Commission should have the power to adopt delegated acts in respect of the adoption of a multiannual work programme.
Report: at the beginning of each year, the Commission should send a report to the European Parliament and to the Council. The report should include information on the participation to the SST support programme and the actions supported by the programme.