The Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) is a department of the European Commission.
The Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) is a department of the European Commission.
The directorate, established in January 2021 under the von der Leyen Commission and currently under the direction of Timo Pesonen, leads the European Commission's activities in the Defence Industry and Space sector. Some of its tasks were transferred from the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW).
In the area of Defence Industry, DEFIS is in charge of upholding the competitiveness and innovation of the European Defence industry by ensuring the evolution of an able European defence technological and industrial base.
In the area of Space DG DEFIS is in charge of implementing the EU Space programme consisting of the European Earth Observation Programme (Copernicus), the European Global Navigation Satellite System (Galileo) and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS). [1]
DG DEFIS is notably responsible for implementing the EU Space programme, made up originally of the European Earth Observation Programme (Copernicus), the European Global Navigation Satellite System (Galileo) and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).
The EU Space programme is jointly implemented by EU Member States, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the European Space Agency (ESA), EUMETSAT and many other stakeholders, and aims to improve for the needs of EU citizens.
In February 2023, European legislators agreed on the launch of a third satellite constellation, IRIS² - Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite. IRIS² is the European Union’s futureproofing solution to enable enhanced communication capacities to governmental users, businesses, with high-speed internet broadband to counteract connectivity dead zones. Suggested by the European Commission in February 2022, IRIS² will offer an EU space-based secure connectivity system to broaden access worldwide to secure, low-cost satellite communication services, in addition to universal high-speed broadband across Europe as a future proofing safeguard against potential challenges.
In addition, to combat the threats of satellite congestion saturation and the risks they pose to potential space infrastructure, the EU has proposed an approach to satellite traffic management (STM) which would enhance its tracking and surveillance capabilities, and standardize sustainability and safety regulations for in-space satellite usage.
A subset of the EU Space policy is the EU space entrepreneurship initiative, CASSINI, which was launched on January 25, 2022. Cassini Facility deploys a €1 billion investment for Venture Capital funds interested in investing in EU-based companies in the space sector. Investment opportunities under the CASSINI initiative allow for Finance, networking solutions as well as prizes and competitions. CASSINI is also a framework programme of EU space research, along with Horizon Europe.
Other CASSINI initiatives include In Orbit Demonstrations/In Orbit Validation services (IOD/IOV) where the Commission offers in-space testing opportunities to SMEs by providing payload allowance which grants simultaneous expositional and developmental interest to SMEs. In addition to IOD/IOV schemes, à flight ticket initiative organised by the DEFIS DG allows for the purchase of entire launch/delivery vehicles, especially launch vehicles from private space companies with payload allocated to SME/research materials.
The CASSINI business accelerator initiative provides intensive 6-month programmes to improve start-up and scale-up companies’ ability to achieve sustained commercial growth through coaching, training, events and seed funding
The European Commission aims to improve the European defence industry market competitiveness and innovation by supporting the European defence industry through multiple framework aids and initiatives.
In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission proposed a legislation to increase collaborative ammunition and missile production within EU member states to supply increased demand from the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. The legislation, named Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) would allocate EUR 50 million euros to secure crucial resources to ammunition manufacturing, fund EU defence companies, address bottleneck logistical and production issues as well as continuous EU-level monitoring of available defence and ammunition resources to ensure efficient distribution of resources. ASAP complements the European Defence Industrial Reinforcement through Common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) which was proposed as an initial response to ammunition shortages which resulted from the conflict. As of July 2023, both pieces of legislation have yet to be voted on by the EU's legislative bodies.
An additional resource under the DEFIS´s purview is the Certified Defence-related Enterprises Register (CERTIDER), which centralizes information about enterprises that are certified under Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 (simplifying the terms and conditions for the transfers of defence-related products within the EU), certification authorities and details about the certificates.
Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that went live in 2016, created by the European Union through the European Space Agency (ESA), operated by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), headquartered in Prague, Czechia, with two ground operations centres in Fucino, Italy, and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The €10 billion project is named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.
Global air-traffic management (GATM) is a concept for satellite-based Communication, navigation and surveillance and air traffic management. The Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, established GATM standards to keep air travel safe and effective in increasingly crowded worldwide air space. Efforts are being made worldwide to test and implement new technologies that will allow GATM to efficiently support air traffic control.
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) developed by the European Space Agency and EUROCONTROL on behalf of the European Commission. Currently, it supplements the GPS by reporting on the reliability and accuracy of their positioning data and sending out corrections. The system will supplement Galileo in a future version.
The National Centre for Space Studies is the French national space agency headquartered in central Paris and it comes under the supervision of the French Ministries of Defence and Research.
The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) is an intergovernmental organisation created through an international convention agreed by a current total of 30 European Member States.
The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, formerly known as the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office, is the European Commission's department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection. It aims to save and preserve life, prevent and alleviate human suffering and safeguard the integrity and dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Since September 2019, Janez Lenarčič is serving as Commissioner for Crisis Management in the Von der Leyen Commission, and since 1 March 2023, Maciej Popowski leads the organisation as the Director-General.
The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Commission’s Vice President (HR/VP), and reports to the Council. The EDA was established on 12 July 2004 and is based in Brussels, Belgium, along with a number of other CSDP bodies.
A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geopositioning. A satellite navigation system with global coverage is termed global navigation satellite system (GNSS). As of 2023, four global systems are operational: the United States's Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, and the European Space Agency's Galileo.
GIOVE, or Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element, is the name for two satellites built for the European Space Agency (ESA) to test technology in orbit for the Galileo positioning system.
Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the European Union Space Programme, managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with the EU Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Frontex, SatCen and Mercator Océan.
The Directorate-General for Trade is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. The European Commission's Directorate- General for Trade develops and implements the EU's trade policy in order to help secure prosperity, solidarity and security in Europe and around the globe. It covers a wide area from manufactured goods to services, intellectual property and investment.
The Romanian Space Agency is a public institution that coordinates Romania's national space technology research programs and activities related to space research. ROSA, established in 1991, is subordinate to the Romanian Ministry of Education.
The European Union Space Programme is an EU funding programme established in 2021 along with its managing agency, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme, in order to implement the pre-existing European Space Policy established on 22 May 2007 when a joint and concomitant meeting at the ministerial level of the Council of the European Union and the Council of the European Space Agency, known collectively as the European Space Council, adopted a Resolution on the European Space Policy. The policy had been jointly drafted by the European Commission and the Director General of the European Space Agency. This was the first common political framework for space activities established by the European Union (EU).
Artemis was a geostationary earth orbit satellite (GEOS) for telecommunications, built by Alenia Spazio for ESA. The Artemis satellite operated at the 21.5E orbital position until 2016, when it was moved to 123E to cover the L-Band spectrum rights for Indonesia's Ministry of Defense.
The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) of the European Commission is meant to improve the competitiveness of European companies facing the challenges of globalization. The programme is mainly aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which will receive support for innovation activities, better access to finance and business support services. It will run from 2007 to 2013.
A hosted payload is a module attached to a commercial satellite with communications circuitry that operates independently of the main spacecraft but which shares the satellite's power supply and transponders. The concept has been also been referred to as "piggybacking" or "hitchhiking."
The European Defence Fund (EDF) is a component of the European Union's (EU) Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) which aims to coordinate and increase national investment in defence research and improve interoperability between national armed forces. It was proposed in 2016 by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and established in 2017. The fund has two stands; Research and Development & Acquisition. In July 2018, the European Commission announced that the EDF budget for 2021-2027 would be €13 billion. This sum was later revised by the European Commission as part of the new EU budget proposed on May 27, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to which the EDF will be allocated €8 billion over this budget period.
The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is a space agency, managing the European Union Space Programme as one of the agencies of the European Union (EU). It was initially created as the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Supervisory Authority (GSA) in 2004, reorganised into the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency in 2010, and established in its current form on May 12, 2021. EUSPA is a separate entity from the European Space Agency (ESA), although the two entities work together closely.
Josef Aschbacher is Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), a position he has held since 1 March 2021. His international career in space combines more than 35 years' of experience at ESA, the European Commission, the Austrian Space Agency, the Asian Institute of Technology and the University of Innsbruck.
IRIS² is a planned multi-orbit satellite internet constellation to be deployed by the European Union by 2027.
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