ESA 7th REACH Workshop | 2 June 2026
ESA ESTEC Noordwijk, Hybrid Event
The European Space Agency (ESA) is pleased to organise the 7th edition of our “Workshop on the EU REACH Regulation and its impact on the Space Sector” on Tuesday, 2 June 2026 at ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
At this interactive full-day event (ca. 9:00-17:30) we want to raise once again awareness and discuss the current state of play, challenges and risks with regard to EU REACH and related environmental regulations with experts from competent authorities, agencies and industry (from Primes to SMEs).
Among different EU regulatory topics of interest, the state of play and discussion of impacts in relation to the Universal PFAS (UPFAS) restriction proposal will take center stage. The workshop will take place only shortly after the end of the second public consultation by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) on the draft opinion of ECHA’s Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) on 25 May 2026. The Space-Defence interlinks have also come into the spotlight in this context and require attention.
In addition, different elements under simplification “omnibuses” by the European Commission are being followed actively, for example the proposal part of the Environmental Omnibus to discontinue the SCIP Database.
Furthermore, we will look at related requirements and evolutions in the UK, assessing the status of regulatory alignment and divergence with the EU based on recent developments in the UK, such as the PFAS Plan by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) of 3 February 2026 and Defra’s new approach to the UK REACH candidate list of substances of very high concern of 24 February 2026.
The event is equally open to interested stakeholders from space agencies and industry, other sectors, NGOs and representatives from the European Commission, ECHA, the European Defence Agency (EDA), national agencies, and ESA member states.
Registration
All attendees are required to register their attendance to the 7th ESA Reach Workshop. During the registration process attendees can indicate if they want to join in person at ESTEC or online via WebEx.
Final Programme
Einstein room (Aj033), 9:00-17:00
Time CEST | # | Invited Speakers | Topic/Titles |
09:10-09:20 | 1 | Ross Findlay (ESA, TEC-SFS) | Introduction & Welcome
|
09:20-09:50 | 2 | Premysl Janik (ESA REACH Officer) | ESA REACH Office - Introduction and space sector-wide initiatives |
09:50-10:20 | 3 | Simone Doyle (ECHA) | ECHA update: Authorisation, Restriction and new tasks |
10:20-10:50 | 4 | Edward Latter (DEFRA UK) | The UK PFAS Plan: Building a stronger future together |
10:50-11:10 |
| BREAK |
|
11:10-11:45 | 5 | European Commission Julien Fabre (DG ENV) and Denis Mottet (DG GROW) | European Commission update on REACH and PFAS |
11:45-12:15 | 6 | Elisa Consoli (ASD Europe) | Updates from the Aerospace & Defence Industry Association on chemical legislation |
12:15-12:45 | 7 | Tim Becker (REACHLaw) | REACH & Space: Update on priority topics and joint contributions |
12:45-14:00 |
| LUNCH BREAK |
|
14:00-14:30 | 8 | Oliver Reiff-Musgrove (REACHLaw) | How to use the ESA REACH Tool, AI and other software to identify PFAS and understand impact from REACH and other regulations. |
14:30-15:00 | 9 | Léo Fournier (ESA) | PFAS use mapping across ESA projects & update on obsolescence risk mitigation activities |
15:00-15:30 | 10 | David Liu (NASA) | Impact of PFAS-related regulations on the global space material supply chain |
15:30-15:40 | 11 | Mentimeter - interactive session | Have your say and give us feedback on the most challenging topics in regulatory landscape! |
15:40-16:00 |
| BREAK |
|
16:00-16:45 | 12 | Panel Discussion
Panellists: Josef Denzel (ADS) Thomas Rohr (ESA) Elisabeth laurent (CNES) Fabian Schueller (Materiales) | PFAS and beyond: Impacts of wide group restriction initiatives and updates to the EU chemicals regulatory agenda on the European Space Sector PFAS (Mapping, Substitution, Reporting) – impact on the sector, Regulatory simplification (omnibuses) Digitalisation (Digital product passport, substance traceability) Dependencies of space technologies on chemicals in geopolitically-driven uncertainty Essentiality of space technologies for functioning industry and society |
16:45-17:00 |
| Closing Remarks | |
17:00 |
| END | |
Preliminary Agenda
The following key topics are foreseen to be addressed, among others:
- A keynote presentation on REACH and environmental challenges from a Space Sector perspective
- State of play on REACH, its planned Revision and related environmental regulations within ESA member states, including in the EU and the UK
- Updates from regulators and agencies with focus on Space
- Industrial views and challenges
- Universal PFAS restriction proposal, assessment of impacts across global jurisdictions and substitution potential
- ESA REACH Tool and use cases for Artificial Intelligence in the chemicals regulatory field.
- Regulatory status of chromates under EU REACH and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) legislation
In addition to our own experts, the list of invited speakers from REACH competent authorities, the EDA, other agencies and industry will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Format
- Your physical presence is encouraged. If not possible, online participation will been abled.
- Sufficient time will be given to Q&As and background discussions during breaks.
- The workshop will culminate in an interactive panel discussion.
- The event will be free of charge.
Logistics:
ESA Conference Bureau
Keplerlaan 1
2201 AZ Noordwijk
The Netherlands
T. +31 (0)71 565 5005
E. ESAConferenceBureau@atpi.com
Technical:
ESA REACH Officer
Mr Premysl Janik
E. reach.officer@esa.int