Brussels, 21 July 2022 (TD): The European Commission, observed Moon Day on Wednesday. The day is celebrated each year on the 20th of July.
Space plays a growing role in our daily lives, our economic growth, our security, and our geopolitical weight. 🛰️
Therefore earlier this year we upgraded our #EUSpace policy by proposing 2 initiatives for:
🚀 Space-based secure connectivity
🚀 Space Traffic Management#MoonDay— European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) July 20, 2022
The Commission, in a tweet, shared that “Space plays a growing role in our daily lives. Our economic growth, our security, and our geopolitical weight.”
Keeping this in view, the EU upgraded its space policy earlier this year in February by proposing two new space initiatives called “EU space-based secure connectivity system” and “Space Traffic Management (STM).”
EU space-based secure connectivity system
EU space-based secure connectivity system will ensure access to cost-effective and secure satellite communications services for commercial and governmental use.
Moreover, it aims to protect critical infrastructures, support surveillance and crisis management, and enable high-speed broadband everywhere in Europe to best anticipate future economic challenges.
Space Traffic Management
Space Traffic Management (STM) will further strengthen the European Union’s space surveillance and tracking capabilities. However, it already provides collision avoidance services to more than 260 European spacecraft.
Apart from this, it will also set clear standards and regulations for a secure safe, and sustainable use of space.
About Moon Day
In 2021, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared 20 July as International Moon Day. It was declared under UN resolution 76/76 on “International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.”
Moreover, this day marks the anniversary of the first humans landing on the moon. It also marks the success of the Apollo 11 mission. It also considers celebrating all the World states’ achievements in exploring the Moon.
History of the Moon Day
On July 20, 1969, Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin became the first humans to step on the Moon. The mission was named Apollo 11, after the spacecraft on which the Astronauts went to the Moon.
The main objective behind the Apollo 11 mission was to complete a goal set by President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. “Perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth” was the statement of the goal.
Furthermore, in 1971, to honor the mission’s success, US President Richard Nixon proclaimed July 20 as National Moon Day.
