Why Europe needs space as part of its security and defence policy

While Europe is edging towards the creation of a coherent space policy and is also trying to create an EU-wide common security policy, the need to use space assets to support security and defence has been only partially acknowledged. The background to Europe's progress towards its goals in space and security is reviewed and the diverse and vital roles that space technology plays in military operations are elaborated. The author argues that top political-level support for integrating space into the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) must be forthcoming; a good start would be the creation of an official document detailing the full range of space missions and functions required for the conduct of crisis management operations, to be used as a thematic guide. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.