The Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Programme is the European Space Agency's (ESA) initiative designed to support Europe's independent space access and utilization through the timely and accurate information delivery regarding the space environment, and particularly hazards to both in orbit and ground infrastructure. The SSA programme is split into three main segments:
Space weather (SWE) segment: monitoring the Sun, the solar wind, and in Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere, that can affect spaceborne and ground-based infrastructure or endanger human life or healthNear-Earth objects (NEO) segment: detecting natural objects, such as asteroids and comets, which can potentially impact EarthSpace surveillance and tracking (SST) segment: Tracking active and inactive satellites and space debris (collectively these items are referred to as Resident Space Objects (RSOs)).
The SSA programme is being implemented as an optional ESA programme with financial participation by 14 Member States. The programme started in 2009 and its mandate was extended until 2019. The second phase of the programme received €46.5 million for the 2013–2016 period.
