EU SST expands its user community and sensors network

More than 500 satellites from all over the world are currently protected by the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST), and more than 200 organisations are receiving the EU SST services. This achievement comes in a year when the network of sensors contributing to EU SST has started growing with the integration of new commercial sensors, which are contributing data that enhances the provision of SST services.

The incorporation of these sensors to the EU SST sensors network is the result of a public procurement procedure for the acquisition of commercial data for a total maximum amount of EUR 13.2 million that was launched last year. The sensors are already operational and their data contribute to generate the EU SST services together with national sensors from the EU SST Partnership Member States. The commercial sensors are owned by leading companies in the SSA domain (6Roads, Aldoria, Arianegroup, Deimos, GMV, Safran, Sybilla), with more expected to join in the future, as a new call is to be launched early 2025.

These new sensors are enhancing the provision of the EU SST services (Collision Avoidance, Re-entry Analysis and Fragmentation Analysis) to a growing community of users – spacecraft owners and operators, EU Member States, EU institutions and other public and private entities. Since September 2024, more than 500 spacecraft worldwide are registered in the Collision Avoidance service, and more than 200 organisations receive the EU SST services, provided by the EU SST Partnership in cooperation with EUSPA, the EU Agency for the Space Programme, which acts as the EU SST Front Desk.

2024 also saw EU SST continuing the monitoring of the space environment to ensure the safety and security of economies, societies and citizens (with events such as the re-entry of ISS DEB (EP BATTERY)), publishing its updated Service Portfolio and launching 12 open procurement and cascade funding procedures (including on developing or upgrading innovative commercial sensors, with a first series of grants signed with 6Roads, ARCA Dynamics, Deimos Engineering, GMV, Look Up Space, Safran Data Systems and Sybilla Technologies). This year, EU SST also marked 10 years of the publication of the SST Decision and the first year of the EU SST Front Desk operated by EUSPA, and was present at numerous international events in the space/SSA domain, including from the United Nations. Moreover, the EU Space Academy incorporated its first lessons on EU SST, and SST was part of the CASSINI Challenges and Hackathons for the first time.

In 2025, EU SST will continue working to ensure the safety and sustainability of space operations and fostering the European SSA industry and start-ups ecosystem with a view to increasing the EU strategic autonomy. It will also strive at opening more SST services globally, enhancing the SST Portal, cooperating with international actors in the SSA domain and advocating for global coordination between SSA systems in different world regions to increase space safety and sustainability.

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