For years, Europe has relied on US-provided space situational awareness as an unquestioned foundation of orbital safety. But as Washington signals a potential shift toward commercialising space traffic management, that assumption is being tested. In this opinion piece, Marco Rocchetto argues that the moment has come for Europe and the UK to turn dependency into resilience - and build a sovereign, allied approach to securing the space environment.
For decades, European satellite operators have relied on American government sensors and systems for satellite tracking and conjunction warnings, quietly outsourcing a core element of space safety beyond Europe’s control. This dependency is no longer just a strategic limitation. We now see it as an emerging operational and economic risk.
In December 2025, the White House signed an executive order, revising Space Policy Directive 3, which seeks to remove the longstanding expectation that basic space situational awareness (SSA) services would be provided “free of direct user fees”. While the precise implementation remains to be seen, the trajectory is clear. Operators, investors and international partners are left to interpret the executive order as best they can.
We believe that if the US moves decisively toward commercialising Space Traffic Management, UK and European operators must be ready for a future where reliable and free access to American SSA data can no longer be assumed.
To put this into perspective, American taxpayers have underwritten a large part of global SSA for more than 15 years. This arrangement has served as a pillar of the international space community but, since its inception, orbital environments have evolved, with low Earth orbit (LEO) now hosting over 10,000 active satellites with tens of thousands more planned in the coming years.
A shift toward paid services, as expected to be provided through US Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) service levels and fee structures, creates predictable demand, revenue signals and incentives - particularly at premium tiers. In our assessment, a more distributed global SSA ecosystem, where responsibility for space safety is shared more equitably among spacefaring nations, would unlock clear economic and security benefits for other regions, including Europe.
We have seen this pattern before in other sectors. By investing early and creating clear market demand, governments can enable European companies to build innovative, efficient and scalable solutions - mirroring progress already seen in weather analytics, aviation routing and cybersecurity.
European capabilities already exist, and we believe that Europe can match American capabilities and be an equal partner in securing the space environment. The EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST) programme already provides conjunction warnings and fragmentation analysis to European operators, drawing on sensor networks across member states. This sovereign capability provides a strong foundation that can now be expanded and strengthened, with the proposed EU Space Act providing one pathway to do so, if US services become less accessible or more costly.
For non-EU states such as the United Kingdom, the challenge is different but no less urgent: how to contribute meaningfully to European space safety while remaining outside EU frameworks. Here, existing alliance structures offer a path forward. NATO’s recognition of space as an operational domain creates natural opportunities for cooperation on space domain awareness among allied nations.
A more balanced global SSA ecosystem, where responsibility and capability are distributed among trusted partners, may ultimately prove more resilient than one dependent on a single provider
This is where our work at Spaceflux begins. As a company working directly at the intersection of commercial capability and national security, our selection for NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) programme positions us to support this allied cooperation. Commercial providers with credibility across NATO allies can help supplement EU SST data, extending its coverage to support the safety of space assets which underpin our prosperity and security.
Should the US policy direction become clearer and move toward commercialisation, it would create space for companies like Spaceflux to invest more heavily in next-generation systems. As a result, a more competitive market would emerge, allowing for multiple providers to offer differentiated services thus driving down costs, improving service quality and creating more responsive solutions for operators with varying needs.
However, space traffic coordination is not a conventional market. We all know collision avoidance decisions are time-sensitive, high-consequence, and often irreversible. Any transition toward a public-private partnership model must be managed with exceptional care, transparency, and international coordination. This is something we cannot afford to get wrong.
As a company working directly at the intersection of commercial capability and national security, Spaceflux, founded in London, has built AI-powered systems for proactive threat detection now being integrated into government space operations. Our work demonstrates that sovereign, operationally-ready space intelligence capability, the data at the core of effective STM, already exists within Europe and allied nations.
The coming months will reveal whether the US intends to pursue cost recovery, market acceleration, or a fundamental redefinition of its role in space traffic coordination. With US market players now offering ‘free’ alternatives, it is our view, European and UK policymakers now face a clear choice: invest in sovereign and allied SSA capabilities, or accept growing dependence on services increasingly shaped by non-European commercial and geopolitical priorities.
A more balanced global SSA ecosystem, where responsibility and capability are distributed among trusted partners, may ultimately prove more resilient than one dependent on a single provider. The market demand is clear. The technology exists - high-quality commercial space intelligence capability already exists within Europe and its allies - ready to be operationalised at scale.
The direction of US policy should be treated as a catalyst, not a crisis. Europe and the UK now have a strong opportunity to invest in sovereign and allied SSA capabilities, to create the regulatory and commercial conditions that allow trusted providers to scale, and to ensure that access to space safety services remains reliable, transparent, and resilient. Space traffic coordination helps underpin economic growth, national security and much of our daily lives. Decisions taken this year will determine how Europe helps shape the future of space safety.
About the author
Marco Rocchetto is the CEO and co-founder of Telescope Live and Spaceflux, with a PhD in Astrophysics from UCL. He contributed to the ESA ARIEL mission, co-discovered the first super-Earth with an atmosphere, and led tech teams at Konica Minolta. He is also a Senior Honorary Research Fellow at UCL.
