On 3 June 2025, ESPI, jointly with the Institut Droit, Espaces et Technologies (IDEST) at University Paris-Saclay, conducted a workshop on the governance and legal/regulatory aspects of a European Responsive Space System, within the framework of the European Defence Fund (EDF) research project REACTS (Responsive European Architecture for Space) at ESPI’s premises.
Under coordination of the Responsive Space Cluster Competence Center (RSC³) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), REACTS will pave the way to an interoperable, holistic network of Responsive Space Systems for Europe, capable of launching satellites and delivering data in just 72 hours. This project has received funding from the European Defence Fund (EDF) under grant agreement EDF-2022-101121212-REACTS.

The workshop contributed to the ESPI-led work package in the REACTS project on the governance and legal/regulatory aspects of a European responsive space system. ESPI research fellows Lina Pohl, Julien Potin, and Giulia Pavesi organised and conducted the workshop. The Workshop saw the participation of representatives from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), the Institut Droit, Espaces et Technologies (IDEST) at University Saclay, the European Air Transport Command (EATC), the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Defence Agency (EDA), the Austrian Academy for Defence, ArianeGroup, and Telespazio.
The workshop opened with welcoming remarks by ESPI Research Manager Matija Rencelj and by Professor Philippe Achilleas, Director of IDEST. In the presentation that followed, the Responsive Space Cluster Competence Center (RSC³) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), provided an introduction on the REACTS project.
Subsequently, Lina Pohl, ESPI Research Fellow seconded by DLR, managing ESPI’s contributions to the REACTS project, and Dr. Hugo Peter, Postdoctoral Researcher for the REACTS Project at IDEST, presented the policy, legal/regulatory and governance aspects of a European Responsive Space System and the research on governance models.
A special part of the workshop’s programme was a presentation by the Major General, Jose L. Ortiz-Canavate Levenfeld, Deputy Commander of the European Air Transport Command (EATC) on the governance of the EATC, highlighting useful elements of the EATC’s governance for a European Responsive Space System. The EATC’s 15-year experience in combining the assets and strengths of seven European countries helped to understand the governance and legal/regulatory opportunities and challenges of creating a European Responsive Space System.
In a following presentation, Lina Pohl and Hugo Peter highlighted the inspiring elements of the EATC’s governance for the governance of the European Responsive Space System and remaining governance, legal and regulatory hurdles.
The presentations were followed by two interactive discussion sessions on the governance of the operations of the system, different scenarios and simulations, and remaining hurdles, as well as on the concrete steps needed to develop such a system and required capabilities and assets. The workshop results will complement ESPI’s and IDEST’s work in the ongoing REACTS project.
The delivery of a previous work package in the REACTS project, on the current policy, legal and regulatory framework and status, was finalised and submitted by ESPI in July 2024.
