Europe’s space assets for the benefit of the Arctic: key capabilities, synergies and societal benefits

Abstract:

Arctic and Space are important policy topics for the EU with recently defined strategies and programs. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has recently completed a study aiming at identifying the synergies across the four domains of the EU Space Programme: Earth observation (EO), satellite navigation, satellite communication, and space monitoring. The study, highlights their current and potential future relevance in view of the challenges in the Arctic region.

The presentation will provide insights into the current capabilities available in Europe across these four domains in the context of Arctic users’ needs. The presentation will discuss some examples, like Copernicus Sentinels and contributing missions, High Priority Copernicus Candidate Missions and the Emergency Warning Service of Galileo. Then it will highlight the potential synergies both at service and infrastructure levels identifying the remaining gaps that need to be addressed. Those synergies are expected to bring high societal benefits. It is in this respect that a brief societal impact assessment will be presented and will be illustrated by two case studies: the first one on ship routing and navigation and the second one on search and rescue.

In addition, space capabilities are built on partnerships and projects covering authorities, operations, and Research and Development (R&D), with a clear increase involvement from commercial partners. Proper policy instruments (e.g. standardisation) are needed to facilitate synergies and cooperation between the public and private sectors, to maximise the benefits for Arctic users. Therefore, the main recommendations for policy makers involved in the interface between science and public policy will be discussed to maximise the societal benefits in Arctic.