Today, with the support of the Commission, a large-scale space skills partnership was established; for data, services and applications. It aims to equip workers with the skills needed to develop future innovations and achieve the objectives of the EU’s space strategy for security and defence.

In particular, the partnership will promote cooperation between the space industry, training centers, academia and other partners, attract young professionals, develop new and existing regional initiatives and contribute to other training programs such as Copernicus academies, the Copernicus relay centers and other activities of the CASSINI initiative. This new partnership complements the already existing aerospace and defense partnership.

The EU has a space economy that is particularly dynamic in areas such as Earth observation, positioning, navigation and timing, and whose value in 2021 was around €40 billion. As the need to find space solutions in various industrial sectors increases, the downstream space sector is expected to double in size, bringing in revenues of over €80 billion by 2030.

THE Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights Mr. Nicolas Schmidt, stated in this regard: “Skills and talent are essential for our space industry to continue to pioneer, innovate and be competitive in the long term. I welcome this new skills partnership, which will match industry needs with education and training and increase the availability of space specialists.”

THE Internal Market Commissioner Mr. Thierry Breton, added: “The establishment of the large-scale skills partnership for space services, data and related applications will strengthen Europe’s leadership in the space sector. It will ensure the resilience and competitiveness of this dynamic sector which serves numerous Union policy priorities, but also a wide range of industrial needs.”

The 17th Skills Partnership, preceded by commitments to other economic ecosystems, is a tangible implementation of the Skills Pact, a flagship initiative under the European Skills Agenda. This initiative, which is part of the European Year of Skills, contributes to the achievement of the ultimate goal at EU level of participation of at least 60% of the adult population in annual training by 2030.

George Fellidis