Spacecraft are an indispensable part of space travel – find out here how the draft EU Space Act will affect them.
With the draft EU Space Act presented in June 2025, the European Commission aims to safeguard the safety, resilience and environmental sustainability of spacecraft operation and launches within its territory. To this end, standardised cross-border regulations are to be created. In particular, the European Commission sees the fragmentation of regulations relating to key elements of space travel, such as spacecraft, as an obstacle to the efficient exchange of space-based data and to the provision and deployment of space services in the EU as a whole. Spacecraft that do not meet the requirements will be prevented from using the internal market for space services (recital nos. 11 f. of the draft EU Space Act).
As in the provisions for launch vehicles, the European Commission is also placing particular focus on the increased risk of debris and space waste posed by spacecraft. Although most of the junk in space still comes from launch vehicles, the number of spacecraft in orbit is steadily increasing due to the development of satellite constellations. This is putting increasing pressure on Low Earth Orbit (LEO), on which access to space naturally depends (recital no. 57). Measures must therefore be taken from design to end of life to ensure that spacecraft cause as little debris as possible (recital no. 58).
The provisions governing launch vehicles and spacecraft – in particular regarding safety and sustainability in space – can be found in the technical requirements under Title IV, Chapter I, Sections 1 and 2 in Articles 58 ff. of the draft EU Space Act. Section 2 relates to spacecraft. The provisions are intended in particular to prevent debris and to introduce uniform obligations from the design phase to the end of life (recital no. 58).
This article provides you with an overview of the provisions regarding spacecraft in accordance with Section 2. In a previous post, we already dealt with the provisions for launch vehicles under Section 1.
EU Space Act: Provisions for spacecraft
Section 2 contains specific provisions for spacecraft, according to which spacecraft operators must ensure their trackability and use collision avoidance services. Among other things, they are responsible for coordinating re-entry, maintaining a certain level of spacecraft manoeuvrability and drawing up plans to mitigate space waste. Further obligations include limiting light and radio pollution. Space operators must also ensure that suppliers' manufacturers comply with the design and manufacturing requirements specified. But how does the European Commission's draft EU Space Act actually define the term "spacecraft"?
The definition of "spacecraft" according to the draft EU Space Act
Spacecraft are classified as space objects as defined in Article 5 (1) of the draft EU Space Act and are designed to perform a specific function or space mission, such as providing services of communications, navigation or observation, or providing in-space operations and services, including a satellite, the launcher upper stages, or the re-entry vehicle (Article 5 (2) of the draft EU Space Act).
With a few minor adjustments, the definition corresponds almost exactly to that in Regulation EU 2021/696 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing the Union Space Programme and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme:
an orbiting object designed to perform a specific function or mission, such as communications, navigation or Earth observation, including satellites, launcher upper stages, and a re-entry vehicle; a spacecraft that can no longer fulfil its intended mission is considered non-functional; spacecraft in reserve or standby modes awaiting possible reactivation are considered functional.
Spacecraft can also be part of a constellation (10 to 99 operational spacecraft), a mega constellation (100 to 999 operational spacecraft) or a giga constellation (at least 1,000 operational spacecraft) (Article 5 (3) to (5) of the draft EU Space Act).
The obligations of the draft EU Space Act apply in particular to space operators as defined in Article 5 (16) of the Act. These include public or private entities that operate the space infrastructure by providing a space service based on authorisation or a specific regime for carrying out a national space programme. Such space services include, for example, the operation, control and return of a spacecraft ('spacecraft operator', Article 5 (16) (a) of the draft EU Space Act) or the operation, control and monitoring of the launch process of a spacecraft ('launch operator', Article 5 (16) (b) of the draft EU Space Act).
Operators of Union spacecraft used for research and educational purposes may be exempted from some of the obligations and measures presented in this blog article (Article 62 of the draft EU Space Act). In order not to put any operators at a disadvantage due to the requirements of the draft EU Space Act, a uniform approach should be taken with respect to all space operators, including those from third countries (recital no. 24).
Space services may only be provided if the space operator has obtained in a Member State an authorisation to carry them out. Such authorisation must demonstrate that the requirements of the draft EU Space Act for the project in question have been met (Article 6 (1) of the draft EU Space Act). In addition, further extensive obligations are envisaged for the operation of spacecraft.
Tracking in space: Spacecraft trackability obligations under the draft EU Space Act
The ability to track spacecraft should be ensured both at spacecraft and at ground segment level (recital no. 59). Spacecraft operators should therefore fulfil trackability obligations to enable monitoring, for example, and thus avoid the risk of collisions. Pursuant to Article 63 (1) sentence 1 of the draft EU Space Act, they are required to ensure that a spacecraft possesses the technical means to allow trackability and precise determination of the orbital position, in accordance with Annex III no. 1.
The requirements are specified in Annex III of the draft EU Space Act: Spacecraft operators must either possess the technical means themselves or rely on external sources to transmit the position of the spacecraft to the entity providing a collision avoidance service within the meaning of Article 64 (1) of the draft EU Space Act (see below). The position in orbit must be tracked as precisely as possible, taking into account deviations depending on the region and size of the object. The tracking system must also be based on passive or active tracking. To this end, the Commission will specify the level of precision required for the trackability by means of implementing acts (Article 63 (2) of the draft EU Space Act).
The current information required to monitor the risks of collision with catalogued space objects that the space object in question could encounter must be transmitted to the collision avoidance service immediately after launch. This includes ephemerides (position data) and covariances.
In accordance with Article 63 (1) sentence 2 of the draft EU Space Act, spacecraft operators in the EU must also ensure that the systems in the ground segment can process data in an existing recognised data format. The requirements for the ground segment software are set out in Annex III no. 2: Among other things, it must be able to provide daily orbit predictions, including manoeuvres for the spacecraft, at specified intervals.
Collision avoidance services: The draft EU Space Act and Regulation (EU) 2021/696
In recital no. 60 of the draft EU Space Act, the EU Commission emphasises that, due to increased debris and traffic in orbit, the use of a collision avoidance service is a must for all spacecraft in order to ensure the day-to-day station keeping of the spacecraft. According to the European Commission, a mandatory collision avoidance service is therefore at the heart of space safety requirements.
Article 64 of the draft EU Space Act sets out specific rules for communication between spacecraft operators and collision avoidance services. According to Article 64 (1 f.) of the draft EU Space Act, EU spacecraft operators must subscribe to collision avoidance services during all phases of a space mission (i.e. during the mission defined by the user to be achieved by a space object, Article 5 (8) of the draft EU Space Act). According to Article 64 (2) of the draft EU Space Act, an exception applies only to the re-entry phase, i.e. the permanent return of a space object into the Earth's atmosphere in accordance with Article 5 (39) of the draft EU Space Act.
The services will be provided by the space service provider responsible for the space surveillance and tracking (SST) sub-component in accordance with Article 58 (2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/696. The SST is
a network of ground-based and space-based sensors capable of surveying and tracking space objects, together with processing capabilities aiming to provide data, information and services on space objects that orbit around the Earth.
(Article 2 (7) of Regulation (EU) 2021/696). According to Article 64 (3) of the draft EU Space Act, spacecraft operators must, without delay, inform the collision avoidance service providers of any planned changes or, without undue delay, of any unplanned changes and problems encountered during operation ((a) and (c)). In addition, the decision to start the disposal phase and to initiate the end-of-life phase (b) must be reported three months before the start of the procedure. The requirements for operators are set out in Annex IV no. 2 of the draft EU Space Act.
Upon receipt of a high-interest event alert, spacecraft operators must inform without delay the collision avoidance service providers of all actions taken to avoid the collision (Article 64 (5) and Annex IV no. 2 of the draft EU Space Act). High-interest events means close approaches with a high level of risk, potentially requiring collision avoidance manoeuvres to be performed by a space operator (Article 5 (33) of the draft EU Space Act).
According to the recitals of the draft EU Space Act, the number of high-interest events is increasing, meaning that spacecraft operators should be able to react to such events more frequently (recital no. 105). The collision avoidance service provider should serve as a facilitator between different spacecraft and propose measures to the spacecraft operator (recital nos. 104 f.). In order to be able to act quickly, a standardised procedure must be introduced. This could prevent different reactions being triggered, which in themselves could lead to collisions (recital nos. 61 and 105). When such a high-interest event occurs, spacecraft operators must report to the European Union Agency for the Space Programme the contact details of their staff in charge of collision avoidance and re-entry activities. This will enable the Agency to include them in the relevant contact list database for high-interest event alerts, Article 67 (1 f.) of the draft EU Space Act.
The abovementioned data and information transmission to the collision avoidance service providers also includes data to enable an accurate re-entry service, such as the positioning and state of the spacecraft and possibility to communicate, in accordance with Article 65 (1) first half-sentence of the draft EU Space Act.
Further obligations for spacecraft operators: From construction and launch to disposal
Article 66 (1) of the draft EU Space Act also stipulates that spacecraft operators must ensure that a spacecraft is designed, produced and operated in a way that allows it to have and enable manoeuvrability for orbits with an apogee above 400 km. Efficient end-of-life disposal is also part of manoeuvrability (Article 66 (2) (b), Article 70 (1) (c) of the draft EU Space Act). One of the annexes to the draft Space Act (Annex IV no. 2) provides further details on manoeuvrability and the information to be transmitted, which operators of spacecraft are required to comply with in accordance with Article 68 (1) of the draft EU Space Act. If a spacecraft is manoeuvrable, the operator must, among other things, be able to perform a collision avoidance manoeuvre. In the case of non-manoeuvrable spacecraft, best efforts will be made to cooperate with collision avoidance service providers within the meaning of Article 64 (1) of the draft EU Space Act. In addition, manoeuvrability must enable a response to an alert when one of the abovementioned high-interest events occurs in accordance with Article 64 (5) of the draft EU Space Act (Article 66 (2) (a) of the draft EU Space Act). The Annex is to be set out in more detail by means of implementing acts of the EU Commission (Article 68 (2) sentence 1 of the draft EU Space Act).
Even before launch, operators are subject to further obligations to increase safety and sustainability in accordance with the draft EU Space Act. Article 69 (1) of the draft EU Space Act stipulates that operators must analyse and give reasons for the choice of orbit, taking particular account of existing spacecraft and debris in orbits. With the adoption of implementing acts, the EU Commission intends to develop methods for calculating the congestion of Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and for calculating the choice of orbit, based on recognised and state-of-the-art methods. In its draft, the EU Commission also provides for measures to be taken by EU space operators to reduce space waste, from debris limitation to disposal of spacecraft (Article 70 of the draft EU Space Act) and measures to limit light and radio pollution (Article 72 of the draft EU Space Act). If the spacecraft is part of a constellation, a mega or giga constellation, the requirements of Article 73 of the draft EU Space Act must also be complied with.
Throughout the entire space mission, the operators of a spacecraft are subject to the risk management obligations set out in Articles 76 ff. of the draft EU Space Act, including the detection and monitoring of incidents (Article 83 of the draft EU Space Act) and prevention and protection (Article 84 of the draft EU Space Act) with regard to cybersecurity. If an operator wishes to extend a space mission, they may submit a request for an extension of a space mission to the competent authority no later than three months before the planned end of the space mission. However, the request should only be approved if the spacecraft still meets the extensive sustainability requirements laid down in Annex V (Article 71 (1), (3) of the draft EU Space Act). When filing a request for an extension, operators will be required to submit revised plans for mitigating space waste. This is to ensure that the extended mission duration does not lead to the creation of space waste (recital no. 64).
EU Space Act: What does it mean for spacecraft operators?
With the EU Space Act, the European Commission aims to set high standards for safety and sustainability in space, particularly with regard to spacecraft and their operators. Standardised procedures, transparent communication and clear obligations are intended to minimise the risk of collisions and the creation of space waste. The current draft contains comprehensive requirements for spacecraft operators, particularly with regard to collision avoidance, manoeuvrability and ensuring effective disposal, as well as rapid and uniform responses to high-interest events. Operators must submit orbit analyses and measures to avoid waste right from the planning and launch stages. Risk management throughout the entire mission, including cybersecurity, will also be a focus of the new regulations. Overall, the EU Space Act aims to create uniform standards that contribute to the long-term safety and sustainability of space travel and spacecraft operations. However, the draft EU Space Act must first go through the EU legislative process, so it remains to be seen which provisions and obligations will be included in the final text.
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