November 5, 2026

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November 5, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Importers Count Down To EU Deforestation Regulation DateFactories Slow As Euro Area Industrial Production DropsCircular Economy Act Slips A Week As Textile Makers PushDAC Recast Would Fold Nine Tax Cooperation Directives Into OneThird-Country Satellites Face EU Space Act Certification HurdleMexico Signature Gives EU-Mexico Agreement Its First Real TestGulf Partnership Stalls as the EU-GCC Summit Loses Its New DateIndonesia Trade Agreement Targets 2027 Start For Palm Oil And TextilesMercosur Agreement Waits On Court As Farm Fears PersistSouth Korea Summit Adds Defence And Digital Trade PillarsCouncil Receives EU India Trade Deal With €4 Billion SavingsInfringement Procedures Hit Ten Year High In Commission ReviewGreen Claims Directive Withdrawn After Three Years Of StalemateEU Customs Reform Puts Parcel Handling Fee On 1 November ClockEuro Area Inflation Hits 4.0 percent In October As Energy Costs Jump 20.8 percentBaltic Sea Fishing Opportunities Rise For Herring And Sprat In 2027Brussels Convenes Ukraine Reconstruction Talks Before Abu Dhabi RoundBeijing Consensus Points Leave EU China Trade Talks Short On DetailEhler Compromise Reshapes European Competitiveness FundRescuers Gather At European Civil Protection Forum 2026Importers Count Down To EU Deforestation Regulation DateFactories Slow As Euro Area Industrial Production DropsCircular Economy Act Slips A Week As Textile Makers PushDAC Recast Would Fold Nine Tax Cooperation Directives Into OneThird-Country Satellites Face EU Space Act Certification HurdleMexico Signature Gives EU-Mexico Agreement Its First Real TestGulf Partnership Stalls as the EU-GCC Summit Loses Its New DateIndonesia Trade Agreement Targets 2027 Start For Palm Oil And TextilesMercosur Agreement Waits On Court As Farm Fears PersistSouth Korea Summit Adds Defence And Digital Trade PillarsCouncil Receives EU India Trade Deal With €4 Billion SavingsInfringement Procedures Hit Ten Year High In Commission ReviewGreen Claims Directive Withdrawn After Three Years Of StalemateEU Customs Reform Puts Parcel Handling Fee On 1 November ClockEuro Area Inflation Hits 4.0 percent In October As Energy Costs Jump 20.8 percentBaltic Sea Fishing Opportunities Rise For Herring And Sprat In 2027Brussels Convenes Ukraine Reconstruction Talks Before Abu Dhabi RoundBeijing Consensus Points Leave EU China Trade Talks Short On DetailEhler Compromise Reshapes European Competitiveness FundRescuers Gather At European Civil Protection Forum 2026

Third-Country Satellites Face EU Space Act Certification Hurdle

Miloš Zeman
Senior Correspondent, Space Policy

Brussels: The EU Space Act moved into a new round of Council talks on 3 November 2026, after the Irish Presidency circulated a revised compromise text on 29 October that tightens the rules for satellite operators from outside the Union. Every delegation has entered a scrutiny reservation, so no government has yet committed to the wording.

The EU Space Act is a regulation on the safety, resilience and environmental sustainability of space activities, built on Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Council document, filed under interinstitutional reference 2025/0335 (COD), keeps the Commission’s numbering until negotiators agree a final deal. The Irish text replaces the version that the Cypriot Presidency released on 30 March 2026, according to the US Office of Space Commerce, which is now collecting feedback from American stakeholders.

Scope is the first battleground in the EU Space Act. The text applies to Union operators and to third-country operators that offer operational space services in the Union or send space-based data into it. It excludes space objects used only for defence or national security and leaves radio spectrum rules untouched. Those carve-outs give governments room to protect military programmes while the civil market falls under one rulebook.

Third-country companies face the heaviest burden under the EU Space Act. Under the Presidency draft, they must name a legal representative in the Union and pass a verification in which the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) carries out the technical assessment. The Commission would then decide within 12 months of a complete application. A jurisdiction with comparable rules could win an equivalence decision, which would spare its operators duplicate checks.

Certification for European operators follows a split of duties. The Member State of launch certifies launch services, while the Member State of main establishment certifies operation, control and re-entry. Each state must recognise certificates issued elsewhere, and only the certifying state may apply stricter standards, and only where objectively necessary. The text sets a ceiling of 12 months for the certification process, with time limits that can be suspended.

The EU Space Act draft also offers flexibility. Governments may self-certify spacecraft when a public body is closely involved in development or owns all payloads, and satellite constellations can receive a single certification for the whole fleet. Operators may use uncertified services temporarily during disasters, provided they notify the Commission. A launch derogation applies only where no realistic European alternative exists.

Market access ties the pieces together. A public register, known as URSA, would list compliant space objects, and control points for satellite communication and Earth observation would have to check that data comes from registered objects. A bracketed placeholder for the launch cut-off date shows how much drafting remains.

The Council’s compromise text of 29 October does not settle the hardest questions, because the scrutiny reservations keep every chapter open. Washington has already signalled interest in redlines, and Parliament will add its own demands. The EU Space Act will therefore decide whether Europe builds a credible single market for space or a certification regime that foreign operators and national capitals fight over well into 2027.

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