17th November 2025 |
Open Consultations
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is seeking public and stakeholder input on the European Commission's proposed EU Space Act, which aims to improve safety, resilience and sustainability in space.
The responses to the consultation will help inform the work to be undertaken by departments across the government in negotiating the proposed regulation. Outlined below are non-obligatory guiding questions which may be considered in submissions.
Background
Guiding considerations
Consultation responses
Information on consultation process
General Data Protection Regulation
Background
On 25 June 2025 the European Commission published a proposal for the Council and Parliament for an EU Space Act. The proposal aims to ensure safety, resilience and environmental sustainability, while boosting the competitiveness of the EU space sector.
The text of the proposal and the Commission’s Impact Assessment and other supporting documents may be found at EU Space Act - European Commission.
Guiding considerations
To support the analysis of the proposed EU Space Act and the subsequent formulation of related strategy, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment invites stakeholders to provide views including on the following areas:
1. Act scope and proportionality
Title I of the Act lays down the general rules concerning the subject matter of the regulation. These rules cover the authorisation, registration and supervision of space activities in the Union, orbit traffic management, governance and enforcement aspects and the establishment of a Union space label. Article 2 specifies which space services providers and space objects the regulation applies to, including third country operators providing space services or space-based data in the Union.
a) Does the proposed scope of the Act align with your understanding of Ireland’s space sector needs?
b) Are the obligations proportionate for SMEs and research institutions?
2. Authorisation and governance
Titles II and III cover authorisation and governance, lays down the conditions that operators must meet to obtain authorisation to carry out space activities as well as governance principles for member states as regards the authorisation and supervision of space activities.
a) What are your views on the proposed authorisation process and the role of national competent authorities?
b) Does the proposed authorisation structure alleviate the compliance challenges currently facing entities operating across EU member states?
c) Which body should Ireland consider designating to act as a National Competent Authority and why?
3. Technical assessments and ESA Involvement
Title IV contains the requirements which the different categories of space service providers must comply with, revolving mainly around the matters of safety, resilience and environmental sustainability.
a) How can duplication of effort and cost be avoided?
b) How much of a burden will the proposed assessments and governance structure place on your business/activity?
4. Environmental and safety requirements
Within Title IV Articles 58-73 lays down rules for the safety and sustainability in space, covering the launchers (Section 1) and the spacecraft (Section 2). The safety rules aim to reduce collision risks, mitigate the creation of debris in orbit, and ensure safe launch and re-entry, with specific procedures and technical requirements for space operators. While Articles 96-100 relate to environmental sustainability. It requires space operators to calculate the environmental footprint throughout the space mission lifecycle, including the design, manufacturing, operations, and end-of-life stages, unless they meet the conditions for an exemption.
a) Are the proposed environmental footprint calculations and safety obligations feasible for Irish operators?
b) What support would be needed to comply with these requirements?
c) Is the proposed EU label likely to benefit you?
5. Cybersecurity and resilience
Articles 74-95 lay down general principles applying to the risk management for space infrastructure and the requirement to carry out risk assessment, building on existing legislation on cybersecurity and physical resilience of critical entities.
a) Do you have any concerns regarding the alignment of the proposed resilience measures in the Space Act proposal with existing obligations under NIS2, CER, and the Cyber Resilience Act?
b) Are there concerns about overlapping or conflicting requirements?
6. Governance and confidentiality
Articles 40-57 set out the governance at Union level, detailing roles and responsibilities in particular that EUSPA shall set up dedicated internal structures (Compliance Board and Board of Appeal) to support and assist the Commission in the authorisation and registration of space operators and third country space operators, as well as to support member states with no qualified technical bodies, through technical assessment processes.
a) Do you have views on requirements on data sharing with EU bodies or foreign experts?
b) How should Ireland protect commercially sensitive information?
7. Third-country collaboration
Articles 14-23 set out the rules for the registration of third country operators and international organisations providing space-based services in the Union. Third country space operators and international organisations providing space services or space-based data in the Union shall be registered in the Union Register of Space Objects upon demonstrating compliance with the technical requirements laid down in the regulation as assessed by EUSPA.
Furthermore, Articles 105-108 enables the Commission to grant equivalence decisions to third country space operators and frames the rules applicable to international organisations.
a) How might the proposed rules on third-country entities affect your ability to collaborate internationally?
b) Do you see the Act as enhancing your ability to operate within the EU or will it create any barriers?
8. Other related matters
This list is not intended to be exhaustive, views on any other aspect of the Act you’ve identified as relevant to you are also welcome.
Consultation responses
Stakeholder views are welcomed from all interested parties, including companies in scope, non-governmental organisations, the research community and beyond. Respondents are also encouraged to provide any other views they may have on the Act in general.
Views from stakeholders and interested parties are requested no later than 5pm on Friday, 12 December2025.
Submissions should be marked 'EU Space Act Consultation' and should be emailed to space@enterprise.gov.ie. Further queries can also be made to that email address.
Information on consultation process
Freedom of Information Act 2014 and publication of submissions
The department will make public on its website all submissions received under this consultation. Your attention is also drawn to the fact that information provided to the department may be disclosed in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2014. Therefore, should you consider that any information you provide is commercially sensitive, please identify same, and specify the reason for its sensitivity. The department will consult with you regarding information identified by you as sensitive before publishing or otherwise disclosing it.
General Data Protection Regulation
Respondents should note that the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) entered into force in Ireland on 25 May 2018 and it is intended to give individuals more control over their personal data. The key principles under the regulation are as follows:
- lawfulness, fairness and transparency
- purpose limitation
- data minimisation
- accuracy
- storage limitation
- integrity and confidentiality
- accountability
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is subject to the provisions of the regulation in relation to personal data collected by it from 25 May 2018. Any personal information which you volunteer to this department, will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018.
Topics:
Enterprise Innovation, EU and Internal Market