Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Domain Awareness (SDA)

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) encompasses an understanding of a wide variety of risks to space operations and assets through the ability to detect, track, identify and catalogue objects in space (this ability is referred to as Space Surveillance and Tracking or SST); observe space weather events (SWE) and near-Earth objects (NEOs); and monitor manoeuvres and other events in space.

In 2019, the US officially introduced the term Space Domain Awareness (SDA), which expands on the classical SSA/SST data by adding relevant space intelligence (i.e. contextual knowledge such as whether a satellite is operational, its capabilities, purpose, etc.). The U.S. Space Force defines SDA as the ‘identification, characterization, and understanding of any factor associated with the space domain that could affect space operations and thereby affect the security, safety, economy, or environment…’.¹

Besides their role in mission assurance and the understanding of space debris, SSA and SDA are the fundamental capabilities underpinning the governance of the space domain, including through international collaborative agreements and interactions.

The US has the most comprehensive SSA capability and, as of March 2023, shares SSA data with 33 countries and 129 commercial operators.^{2 3} Russia and China collect their own SSA data. Other countries and regions are also developing SSA capabilities (e.g. Europe, Japan, etc.).

In 2021, the EU (through Regulation (EU) 2021/696) instituted SSA as one of the five main components of the EU Space Programme (alongside Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus and GOVSATCOM).⁴

Building on existing structures created by the 2014 EU Decision (Decision 541/2014/EU) establishing a Framework for Space Surveillance and Tracking Support, it currently has an SST Partnership, which includes 15 member states contributing their national assets. Those states are Austria (FFG), Czech Republic (MDCR), Denmark (RDAF), Finland (FMI), France (CNES), Germany (German Space Agency at DLR), Greece (NOA), Italy (ASI), Latvia (IZM), the Netherlands (EZK), Poland (POLSA), Portugal (PT MoD), Romania (ROSA), Spain (AEE) and Sweden (SNSA).

The oversight of space operations relies on Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and the newer concept of Space Domain Awareness (SDA). The former involves tracking space objects, observing space weather and monitoring near-Earth objects and space events. The latter, introduced in 2019 by the US, expands on SSA by incorporating contextual intelligence, such as understanding satellite functionalities. While the US leads in SSA, other countries, including Russia, China and Europe, are developing their capabilities