Plans to overhaul European space regulation would come with unprecedented enforcement power over domestic and foreign satellite operators, including on-site inspections and steep fines to uphold safety, cybersecurity and sustainability standards.
The European Commission unveiled its long-awaited draft of the EU Space Act June 25, aiming to streamline fragmented national rules while strengthening oversight of space activities.
Although the legislation is still subject to negotiations and isn’t expected to take effect until 2030, its current form marks a decisive shift in how Europe intends to shape and safeguard its growing space economy.
The 119 individual legal provisions in the draft apply to all operators providing space-based services in the EU, including so-called “third countries” outside of Europe.
In cases of breach, fines could be levied of up to twice the level of the profit resulting from the breach, twice the losses avoided or 2% of global revenue.
This scale of penalties reflects those used in other EU laws, noted John Worthy, a partner at Fieldfisher and head of satellite and space projects at the law firm. But they are “new to space, and specifically new to space sustainability requirements.”
Marking a first for its space debris enforcement action, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission fined satellite broadcaster Dish Network $150,000 in 2023 for failing to properly remove a spacecraft from geostationary orbit.
Three pillars, one ambitious space law
| Safety | Resilience (Cybersecurity) | Sustainability |
| Objective: Prevent collisions, reduce orbital debris and ensure the responsible operation of space objects throughout their life cycle. | Objective: Safeguard space infrastructure from cyber threats and ensure continuity of service amid disruptions. | Objective: Minimize the environmental impact of space activities and promote greener space technologies. |
| Notable rules: Operators must show the ability to track and avoid collisions with other space objects. Satellites must have clear plans and capabilities for safe deorbiting or disposal at the end of their operational life. All space objects operated in the EU market must be registered in a centralized EU database. | Notable rules: Operators must conduct and update cybersecurity assessments throughout the satellite’s lifecycle. Operators are obligated to report cybersecurity breaches and disruptions through a formal EU process. A new EU-level coordination body for sharing cyber threat intelligence and incident response across member states. | Notable rules: All space activities must follow a common EU methodology to calculate emissions and environmental footprint from design to end-of-life. Operators must report environmental data, feeding into a central EU database to inform policymaking. The framework encourages in-orbit servicing, satellite life extension and active debris removal. |
While the settlement was also accompanied by a raft of orbital debris safety measures, that fine represented less than 0.001% of Dish’s $16.68 billion revenue for 2022.
The EU Space Act also includes mandatory audits and the potential for international on-site inspections to ensure compliance.
These enforcement mechanisms are extensive, Worthy said, though any on-site inspections of foreign sites would be subject to the operator’s consent and the absence of objections from the local regulator.
Ironing out the details
While EU providers offering purely defense or national security services would be exempt from legislation, Worthy said it remains unclear how the rules would apply to dual-use operators supporting both commercial and military purposes, especially with hosted payloads.
For non-EU space companies, the draft raises questions about navigating overlapping compliance regimes.
Without an “equivalence certificate” confirming that a third country’s regulatory regime offers comparable protections, most operators will face dual obligations to comply with both their home country’s licensing rules and the EU’s market access requirements.
“For U.S. players, this will present challenges especially in areas such as sustainability,” Worthy said, “where the U.S. authorities have been content to operate a set of voluntary codes of practice and similar mechanisms.”
According to the European Space Policy Institute, European space ventures attracted €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) in investment in 2024 — a 56% year-on-year increase and the largest jump since 2014, though still well behind the United States.
While the EU Space Act aims to help sustain that momentum by establishing more predictable and cohesive regulations, the Commission has acknowledged the added compliance costs for operators and pledged support measures to ease the transition.
“As a global operator, we already comply with rigorous regulatory frameworks, and we recognize the value of consistent, harmonized standards across jurisdictions,” said Chehineze Bouafia, head of space and telecoms regulatory affairs at French multi-orbit operator Eutelsat.
Europe has five years to hammer out the final details.
In the meantime, Bouafia is “closely monitoring how the final provisions may affect operational realities,” underscoring how much uncertainty still surrounds this ambitious overhaul.
This article first appeared in the July 2025 issue of SpaceNews Magazine with the title “Europe gets serious about space rules.”