The European Commission adopted a legislative proposal on 7 April 2026 to place the EU's space programme agency on a permanent legal footing, marking the bloc's most significant restructuring of space governance since 2021. The move would rename the European Union Agency for the Space Programme — known by its acronym, EUSPA — the European Union Space Services Agency and establish a standalone founding regulation for it, separating it from its current legal home within the Union Space Programme framework.
The agency, which has been headquartered in Prague since 2012 and was established in its current form on 12 May 2021, presently derives its mandate from Regulation (EU) 2021/696, a piece of legislation tied to the bloc's 2021–2027 Multiannual Financial Framework — the seven-year budget cycle that governs European Union spending. That arrangement, the Commission argues, creates an unacceptable degree of institutional uncertainty, exposing the agency to periodic renegotiation of its mandate and resources whenever a new budget cycle begins.
The proposed reform is intended to decouple the agency's operations from those budgetary rhythms entirely. EUSPA was initially tasked with implementing the Union Space Programme for the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021–2027, before having its mandate expanded under Regulation (EU) 2023/588 to take on additional tasks from the Union Secure Connectivity Programme. European Commission: Under the Commission's latest proposal, EUSPA would be entrusted with playing a crucial role in executing actions related to the Union Space Systems and Space Policy from 2028 to 2034 as part of the European Competitiveness Fund.
The breadth of the new agency's responsibilities would extend significantly beyond those of its predecessor. EUSPA currently provides satellite navigation services, advances the commercialisation of Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus data, engages in secure satellite communications under the GOVSATCOM and IRIS2 programmes, and operates the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking Front Desk. EU Agency for the Space Programme. Under the proposed transformation, those functions would be supplemented by a substantially enlarged role in security accreditation, space situational awareness, and the provision of resilient positioning, navigation and timing services — services of growing strategic significance as European governments seek to reduce dependence on American GPS infrastructure.
The GOVSATCOM programme — the bloc's system for providing encrypted communications to military and government users — would come under closer operational management from the reformed agency. As of January 2026, GOVSATCOM consisted of eight satellites from five different EU member states, though the infrastructure is expected to expand considerably in the coming years alongside IRIS2, the planned third EU satellite constellation primarily aimed at enhanced communications services.
EUSPA is also responsible for implementing and monitoring the security of EU Space Programme components and operates the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre, which has facilities in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France and Saint Martin de la Vega in Spain. EU Agency for the Space Programme The Commission's proposal would consolidate and formalise that security remit, making the reformed agency the central certification authority for all EU-provided space-based services, including those used in critical national infrastructure and defence applications.
The reform is framed explicitly within the EU's wider push for strategic autonomy — a term Brussels increasingly applies to efforts to reduce reliance on non-European suppliers and governance structures in areas it regards as sovereign concerns. Although ESA is partnered with the EU on flagship programmes such as the Copernicus Earth Observation system and the Galileo satellite navigation system, it is not an EU agency, a distinction that has historically complicated governance and accountability. The new legal framework is intended in part to clarify the division of responsibilities — with ESA retaining focus on research, development and technical oversight, and the reformed EUSPA concentrating on operational delivery.
The original 2018 proposal to expand what was then the European GNSS Agency into a broader space agency drew strong criticism from ESA and many member states, as it was perceived as encroaching on ESA's established role. Subsequent agreements have sought to draw clearer lines between the two institutions, though the Commission's latest initiative — extending the new agency's security and defence-related functions — may yet reignite those discussions.
The proposal also intersects with a broader suite of emerging EU space legislation. The agency would be assigned a central role in administering the Union Register of Space Objects and in supervising compliance under the proposed EU Space Act, which would give Brussels regulatory authority over space service providers operating in European markets — including non-EU operators in certain circumstances. Under that framework, the European Commission would authorise operators of EU-owned assets based on technical assessments provided by EUSPA, which would also manage the Union Register of Space Objects.
European spending on space has risen sharply in recent years. In November 2025, the European Space Agency obtained its largest-ever budget commitments, totalling approximately €22.3 billion — a 31 per cent increase — while in December 2025, the European Commission allocated €50 million to a space project under the European Defence Fund's €1 billion work programme for 2026.
The legislative proposal will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU under the ordinary legislative procedure. No timeline for adoption has yet been confirmed.
