‘Space has direct impact on EU’s strategic autonomy’

ANKARA

Space has a direct impact on Europe’s goal of strategic autonomy, EU Council President Charles Michel said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the opening of the European Space Conference, Michel said “a robust European space sector is essential to a robust Europe.”

“If we want to be stronger and more self-confident on the global landscape, we must also be stronger in space. We must ensure safe, autonomous, reliable and affordable access to space,” noted Michel.

“As competition in space increases, we need to use our weight as a global player to help build robust global governance. This will be essential to innovative and sustainable space activity,” he added.

Europe’s space policy is essential to its climate and digital strategies implementation and the EU increased its space program budget to €14.9 billion ($18.1 billion), Michel also said.