It was initially created as the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Supervisory Authority (GSA) in 2004, reorganised into the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (also GSA) in 2010, and established in its current form on May 12, 2021.

EUSPA operates the Galileo and European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) services with the aim to provide a European alternative to the already established and advanced American, Russian and Chinese systems e.g. GPS, Glonass and BeiDou.

[3] EUSPA provides safe and secure European satellite navigation services, advances the commercialization of Galileo, EGNOS, and Copernicus data and services, engages in secure satellite communications (GOVSATCOM[4] and IRIS2[5]), and operates the EU SST[6] Front Desk.

[7] Established in 2004 as the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), reorganised in 2010 into the European GNSS Agency (also GSA), and based in Prague, Czech Republic, since 1 September 2012, the agency was initially responsible for managing and monitoring the use of the Galileo programme funds and dealing with any matters relating to satellite radio-navigation.

ESA is partnered with the EU on its two current flagship space programs, the Copernicus series of Earth observation satellites and the Galileo satellite navigation system, with ESA providing technical oversight and, in the case of Copernicus, some of the funding.

ESA and EUSPA are now seen to have distinct roles and competencies, which is officialized in the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA).

The GNSS Service Center is located in Madrid, in the facilities of the Spanish National Aerospace Institute (INTA),[16] in Torrejón de Ardoz.

The center itself was named as a tribute to the former Vice President of the EC "Loyola de Palacio", the then Commissioner for Transport.

[17] On 17 March 2011, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Vice President of the EC Antonio Tajani and the Spanish Minister of Transport José Blanco López.