Recommendations for remaining competitive in the face of pandemics and climate change for the European space sector

Europe’s space sector is vulnerable to cascading, compounding, and cross-border risks associated with pandemics and climate change. Given the importance of the space sector in European society, including economic competitiveness and security, it is important to ensure this sector is resilient to global shocks such as those caused by pandemics, as well as, natural hazards exacerbated by climate change. A step-by-step approach is presented, describing individual actions that critical infrastructure operators can use to support decision-making for cross-border business continuity resilience. In addition, several recommendations to support Europe’s growing space sector include: (i) prepare and share national pandemic plans for the EU space sector, specifically addressing cross-border disruptions; (ii) establish EU funding mechanisms under the European Union Space Services Agency to integrate cross-border climate and pandemic risk assessments into existing systems; (iii) supporting programmes for large prime integrators to co-develop and incorporate pandemic and climate risk assessments within their supply chains, especially with SMEs; and (iv) ensure pandemic and climate risk management plans are explicitly incorporated in EU space procurement frameworks.