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“Legal and Economic Aspects for European space services and applications”

The European Space Policy is shifting from technology and systems development to services and applications. Space industry is now recognized as a driver for growth and innovation, generating highly qualified jobs and market opportunities.

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Growing emphasis is put on the promotion of industrial competitiveness, seeking to secure maximum returns from Europe’s investments in space. New space services and applications shall support a broad range of European policies and serve economic and societal needs. To this end, ESA is seeking an enforced mandate from Member States for stimulating European space services and bridging the gap between technology development and operational services systems. Member States increasingly allocate national space budgets to the development of services and applications.

The utilitarian perspective of European Space Policy strongly impacts on the regulatory framework, giving rise to new questions:

  • Should national legislation for licensing commercial space activities be more streamlined?
  • Is harmonization beneficial to support the commercial provision of earth observation data to European and global markets?
  • Can open data policies stimulate downstream markets or could they even have adverse effects on existing service providers?
  • Is there a need for a sector-specific procurement directive?
  • Can Innovation Procurement be utilized for developing space services?
  • How can Public Private Partnerships be set up effectively to bridge the gap between development and towards operational services systems?
  • Can space industry benefit from the new Concession Directive?
  • Are Service Level Agreements the right tool for guaranteeing performance of space services?
  • What regulatory measures could ensure an adequate role of satellites in the Digital Agenda?
  • How can liability risks from space services be covered by the insurance market?

These questions will be debated at the 2-day conference, bringing together leading policy, legal and economic experts from EU bodies, ESA, national space agencies, industry associations, and academia. The conference will provide a platform for analysing the suitability of existing and the need for future laws and regulations governing the provision of space services and applications in Europe.

The conference is scheduled for the 18th and 19th February 2015 and will take place in the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing, at the lakeside of the Starnberger See near Munich, Germany.
Please find all additional information in the attached conference flyer.

  • BavAIRia International Legal Symposium Flyer151214.pdf
  • Hotelliste.pdf