Space is still seen as one of the last frontiers of humanity. And yet, far from being something remote and unattainable, space is already part of our daily life: from road navigation to geo-marketing, up to helping us locate friends on social media, space technology, data and services have become indispensable for all Europeans. For this reason, the EU is currently working on the establishment of a European Space Programme, which, in the ambition of the European Commission, will boost EU space leadership beyond 2020.

 

In order to provide input to the discussion, CEN and CENELEC, two of the official European Standardization Organizations (ESOs), are organising the workshop “From space to Earth and back: how standards support space applications for Europe”. 

 

The one-day event, which will take place in Brussels on 24th June, will put together a variety of stakeholders coming from the space industry, technology providers, policy makers, civil society and the standardization community, to identify challenges and how standardization can help overcome them. Participants will also discover the opportunities of the use of satellite data for industrial and societal developments. 

 

In particular, discussions will revolve around strategic issues, such as the Space Strategy for Europe; the applications from the global navigation satellite system Galileo and EGNOS for road, rail, air and maritime transport; Copernicus for earth observation; the socio-economic, safety and security benefits of Earth observation. Keynote speakers will include representatives of the European Space Agency, EUROSPACE and the European Commission. 

 

The workshop builds on a long tradition of engagement with the space industry on the part of CEN and CENELEC. Indeed, European standardization is involved in making the space industry successful and efficient: CEN and CENELEC have a working agreement with ECSS (European Cooperation for Space Standardization), an initiative by ESA (European Space Agency). As part of this agreement, through the Joint Technical Committee 5 (JTC/5) ‘Space’, they develop European Standards (ENs) in the space sector. The aim is to support European space activities and industry, under Mandate M/496 of the European Commission.

 

In this context, the workshop “from space to Earth and back” is expected to contribute to the reflection on future standardization needs by identifying areas and ways in which standards can help Europe to remain a global leader in space applications and increase the use of space data for the wellbeing of all European citizens.

 

CEN and CENELEC are at the side of the European industry to strengthen Europe’s future in space. Together, we can aim for the stars!