Europe launches its first space commissioner straight into a budget scrap – POLITICO | Space

While the EU has never had a space commissioner, there is a need to zone in on a sector that McKinsey estimates will be worth $1.8 trillion by 2035, and where the EU has long been a significant player.

If confirmed by the European Parliament, Kubilius will oversee satellite programs such as GPS-alternative Galileo and the Copernicus Earth observation network, as well as completing the development of the €2.4 billion IRIS², the troubled secure communications network that aims to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The mission letter dispatched to Kubilius by von der Leyen also instructs him to pull together “common EU standards and rules for space activities” under an EU Space Law legislative plan, something that was not concluded under the outgoing mandate, while leading work on Galileo, Copernicus and IRIS².

A space data economy strategy is also on the to-do list, von der Leyen wrote.

The former two-time Lithuanian prime minister will also be tasked with working closely with ESA.

Relations have long been fraught between the two bodies, but a fresh face in Brussels offers a chance to coordinate work on the two agency budgets, said Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director general.