On June 3rd 2025, Major General Jose Ortiz, Deputy Commander of the European Air Transport Command (EATC) provided a presentation on the governance of the EATC for a closed-door workshop organized by the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and the Institut Droit, Espaces et Technologies (IDEST) in the frame of the European Defence Fund research project REACTS (Responsive European Architecture for Space) at the premises of ESPI in Vienna.
Under coordination of the Responsive Space Cluster Competence Center (RSC³) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), REACTS will pave the way for 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 EATC’s 15-year experience in combining the assets and strengths of seven European nations (DEU, FRA, ESP, ITA, NLD, BEL and LUX) helped understanding the governance and legal/regulatory opportunities and challenges of creating a European Responsive Space System. General Ortiz’ presentation provided an important basis for the following workshop discussion, which 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 Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Defence Agency (EDA), the Austrian Academy for Defence, ArianeGroup, and Telespazio.