Space Summits

Seville Space Summit 2023

The Space Summit held in Seville on November 6, 2023, brought together key European stakeholders to address critical challenges and opportunities in the space sector.

The summit focused on the following key areas:

• Using space to advance the green transition in Europe, to take effective actions on climate change, and to strengthen climate resilience.
• Safeguarding the benefits of space for future generations through sustainable space activities.
• Increasing commercialisation in the European space ecosystem.
• Securing autonomous, reliable, and cost-effective access to space for Europe.

The Space Summit was preceded by an ESA Council at Ministerial level, which came to far reaching decisions in the fields of space for our green future, space exploration and access to space, and in general on the modernisation of the implementation of its programmes. See here the Council Resolution and the Director General’s Proposal together with news coverage.

Toulouse Space Summit 2022

The Space Summit in Toulouse, held in 2022,on February 16, as an informal gathering of the ESA and the EU Councils did not adopt a document on the outcome of its deliberations. Nevertheless, it was an occasion for European leaders to confirm their ambitious plans to work closely together in order to accelerate Europe as a world leader in space during a series of high-level meetings.

The summit focused on the following key areas:

• Strengthening Europe’s leadership in space: Reinforcing cooperation between ESA, the EU, and member states to maximise space’s role in addressing societal, economic, and security challenges.
• Three ESA Accelerators: Introducing three accelerators— “Space for a Green Future” to combat climate change, “Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response” to enhance crisis management, and “Protection of Space Assets” to secure critical infrastructure.
• Alignment with EU initiatives: Ensuring synergy between ESA’s accelerators and the EU’s Secure Connectivity initiative and Space Traffic Management proposal, with member states encouraged to take leadership roles.
• Human space exploration and scientific missions: Establishing a high-level advisory group to assess European human spaceflight capabilities and proposing a sample-return mission to search for extraterrestrial life.