GMV joins celebrations marking ten years of EU SST operations

GMV took part in an event held in Brussels on October 21 to mark the tenth anniversary of operations by EU SST, the European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking system. Alberto Águeda, GMV’s Director of Space Surveillance and Traffic Management, was a speaker at the session “Spotlight on EU Space Surveillance Industry,” which showcased companies and solutions from across the European space sector.

Since launching its services in 2016, EU SST has evolved into a leading European capability supporting the safety and sustainability of space operations. Its services help protect satellites against potential collisions, assess atmospheric reentries, and analyze fragmentation events in orbit.

Over the past decade, the initiative has expanded its capabilities and sensor network, growing from five participating Member States to nineteen. Today, more than 400 organizations are registered to use its services, and over 690 satellites have benefited from collision risk protection.

GMV has contributed to EU SST since before it began operations, working alongside space agencies, companies, and research institutions from across Europe to develop the system. In Spain, the company plays a key role in the development, operation, and maintenance of the S3TOC space surveillance and tracking center under contract with the Spanish Space Agency (AEE). Operating in hot redundancy with its French counterpart, S3TOC provides the collision warning service, the highest-rated of EU SST’s three services. It also plans, calibrates, and monitors the system’s sensors.

GMV works on the European database and catalog, which form the core of the system and fall under the responsibility of the German Space Agency (DLR). Under contract with CNES, the company conducts simulations to help guide EU SST’s future development, while its products are used by operations centers in Romania, Poland, Greece, and Portugal. Its involvement extends to dozens of R&D initiatives, ranging from sensor development to service design, aimed at driving technological progress across the system.

The event highlighted the collective efforts of EU SST’s partners and users, as well as the importance of European cooperation in addressing the challenges of an increasingly crowded orbital environment.