European Space Surveillance and Tracking Support Framework

Abstract

In order to safeguard European space infrastructure and contribute to global burden-sharing in the domain of Space Situational Awareness, the European Union set up a dedicated capability for Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST). Operational since 2016, EU SST employs a novel governance model that joins existing sensors of European Member States and provides collision avoidance, reentry and fragmentation analysis services to the European user community. This chapter provides an overview on the formation, internal governance, and operations of the current European Space Surveillance and Tracking Support Framework and offers a perspective on its future as part of the proposed EU space program.