ESA Enlargement
What Interested Countries Can Do to Prepare Themselves for Ultimate Accession – With a Special Focus on the CEE Region
Report 47 January 2014
Erich Klock Marco Aliberti
Short title: ESPI Report 47 ISSN: 2076-6688 Published in January 2014 Price: €11
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ESPI Report 47 2 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 5
1. Introduction 12
2. The Setting 14 2.1 Boundary Conditions 14 2.1.1 Article XIV.1 and Cooperation/Framework Agreement 16 2.1.2 Article XIV.2: Participation in ESA Optional Programmes 17 2.1.3 Article XIV.3: Associate Member State 17 2.1.4 The European Cooperative State (ECS) Agreement and PECS 18 2.1.5 Moves towards EU Members 21 2.1.6 Accession to the ESA Convention 22 2.1.7 Transition Measures towards New Members 23 2.1.8 ESA Membership: Benefits and Costs 24 2.2 Current Status of Recent and Future ESA Member States 26 2.2.1 Economic Weight of ESA Aspiring Members 27 2.2.2 Organisation of Space Activities in Recent and Future ESA Member States 30 2.2.3 National Policies 35 2.2.4 Space Capabilities and Expertise 43 2.2.5 Legal Framework and International Cooperation 45 2.3 ESA Enlargement in the Light of the EU Space Mandate and Policy 53 2.3.1 ESA and EU Relationship 53 2.3.2 European Space Governance 54 2.3.2 The European Space Policy 55 2.3.3 Recent Developments under the Lisbon Treaty 57 2.3.5 A Role for the EU in Promoting ESA Enlargement? 60
3. Instruments for Aspiring Countries 66 3.1 Mentoring Programmes 67 3.1.1 Business Facilitators 68 3.1.2 Business to Business Relations 69 3.1.3 Academic Facilitators 70 3.1.4 Institution-Oriented Mentoring Programmes 71 3.2 Business Incubators 71 3.3 Interest Groups 73 3.3.1 Industry-Oriented Interest Groups 73 3.3.2 Institution-Oriented Interest Groups 73 3.4 Specific Optional Programme for Aspiring Countries 74 3.5 Space-Based Applications for Economic Growth 75
4. The Path Ahead: Conclusions and Recommendations 78
List of Acronyms 83
ESPI Report 47 3 January 2014
Annex 86 A.1 ESPI Workshop “ESA Enlargement” 86 A.1.1 Background and Rationale 86 A.1.2 Summary of Keynote Speeches 87 A.1.2.1 Session 1: Boundary Conditions 87 A.1.2.2 Session 2: Discussing Accompanying Processes 90 A.1.2.3 Session 3: Opportunities and Challenges for Non-Member States 92 A.1.3 Summary of the Roundtable and General Discussions 94 A.1.4 Workshop Programme 96 A.2 Overview of Recent and Aspiring ESA Member States 97 Completed Enlargements: 97
Acknowledgements 100
About the Authors 100
ESA Enlargement
Executive Summary
states, and that Switzerland and Norway, despite their lack of membership of the EU, Background will continue being part of ESA. Since its establishment, the European Space With the recent EU enlargements towards Agency (ESA) has been a pole of attraction Central and Eastern Europe, the scene has for all European countries wishing to conduct been eventually set for the gradual enlarge- space activities in a cooperative, effective ment of ESA by all the member states of the and profitable manner. In fact, since the ESA EU not yet members of ESA, bringing the Convention entered into force, an increasing total membership to 30 in the medium term number of countries has started to move (EU28 plus Norway and Switzerland). An towards a closer relationship with the analysis of this enlargement process firstly Agency, and new partners have progressively requires an in-depth review of the boundary joined the founding members. Starting with conditions and the current support framework 10 member states, ESA has grown to now provided by ESA as well as a detailed investi- have 20 member states with several more gation of the situation in each of the aspiring preparing to join. member states. This progressive enlargement was envisaged from the outset and, in a sense, the ESA The Framework for ESA Enlargement Convention addressed all European countries. In fact, the core purpose of ESA “to provide The ESA Convention pays special attention to for and promote cooperation among Euro- international cooperation and envisages the pean States in space research and technology possibility of accession for all European coun- and their space applications”, as set out in tries. Article II of its Convention, has gradually Historically, the Agency’s composition has reinforced the idea of building up an Agency been built up as part of a gradual and step- that is truly representative of European iden- by-step process. The original configuration is tity. It can be envisaged that all EU Member illustrated in Figure 1. states will ultimately become ESA member
Figure 1: Original accession process
This process has followed an evolutionary In many cases, however, the integration pattern. Participation in ESA optional pro- process proved to be both lengthy and com- grammes and the acquisition of Associate plex, simply because different European Member status were not considered manda- countries were not at the same level in terms tory for a state to become a full member of of space-related industrial and scientific ca- ESA, but were intended as intermediary steps pabilities. While some of them were charac- for easing the process of integration into ESA. terised by economies of scale and advanced space capabilities, others were just new en-
ESPI Report 47 5 January 2014
trants on the supply side of the space market will face several challenges in the coming and found difficulties in adapting to the ESA years. environment. To meet these challenges, in March 2012 In this context, it is noteworthy that ESA was ESPI organised a workshop entitled “ESA not only intended to accommodate the acces- Enlargement – What interested countries can sion of new European member states, it was do to prepare themselves for ultimate acces- also designed to be enriched with new coop- sion”. The objective of the workshop was to erative supportive mechanisms for new en- set up a discussion platform with ESA aspir- trants. In fact, in the history of the Agency, ing member states to elaborate on the proc- cooperation schemes have been gradually ess of facilitating their participation in ESA. modified and enhanced with new steps and The event also saw the participation of sev- supporting measures aimed at better harmo- eral personalities from ESA as well as speak- nizing the integration process. The Plan for ers from the policy-making side, the business European Cooperating States (PECS) is a sector, space industry and organizations, who special measure for potential candidates that together discussed the opportunities and aims at strengthening the links between challenges of aspiring members' integration European Cooperating States (ECS) and ESA processes. A summary of the workshop is at as well as assisting in the development of a Annex A.1. national space industry. In addition, transi- Based on the discussions and findings of the tional measures accompany new member workshop, this report specifically analyses states during their first years (6 to 9 years) the experience and status of three recent ESA in ESA in order to ease the integration of member states (namely the Czech Republic, their industry. Finally, the enhancement of Romania and Poland) as well as of potential the ESA education programme, the estab- future members of the Agency (Estonia, Hun- lishment of bi-annual consultation meetings gary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovak Republic and and the invitation to the EU member states to Slovenia). It must be noted that, although attend ESA Councils, also respond to the logic the integration process is addressed to all of facilitating the accession of interested European states who are not yet members of countries. the Agency, to date it is mainly focused on Despite the introduction of all these suppor- the CEE and the Baltic region and is being tive measures (which are discussed in further implemented at different levels, according to detail in Chapter 2 of the present report), the status of the involved country. Therefore, new entrants have still had a hard time the present report also concentrates on this adapting to the ESA environment and its exi- region. gent requirements, due to the size of their Countries such as the Czech Republic, Roma- economies, the situation of their space indus- nia and Poland have already gained member try or their modest level of investment in the status, while other countries such as Estonia space sector in the past. It is expected that and Slovenia are participating in the PECS future members may find similar or even programme. It is expected that they will join harder difficulties. ESA in the 2015/16 timeframe. Countries In this respect, it becomes clear that, in addi- such as Latvia, Lithuania or Slovakia, who tion to ESA, aspiring countries on their own have only signed a Cooperation Agreement, also have to define instruments and imple- might join the Agency later, around the year ment strategies to prepare their industries to 2018, which might also end up being the win work in ESA. In spite of the geo-return timeframe for the accession of Hungary. To principle, the experience of some new mem- date, Bulgaria and Croatia are the only EU ber states has shown that the ESA environ- member states that have not yet signed a ment is very competitive, its requirements Cooperation Agreement, despite their an- exhaustive, its standards high and its “cul- nounced intention to participate in ESA activi- ture” tremendously complex. ties. Eastern European countries show similarities Discussing the Acession of New Member States. because of their common history: most of them gained valuable expertise in the space Understanding the difficulties that aspiring field during Soviet times and still have tal- member states might face in acceding to ESA ented space scientists and engineers. How- and subsequently identifying possible tools to ever, the situation of each state is very dif- facilitate their integration requires a detailed ferent in terms of economic and political sup- investigation of the experience of and situa- port for space activities and each of those tion in each aspiring country. Taking these countries has its own specificities in terms of analyses into consideration, it is likely that expertise, space activity management, fund- both recent and aspiring ESA member states ing mechanisms, policies and priorities.
ESPI Report 47 6 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
Most recent and potential future ESA member R&D expenditure of these CEE countries for states have established an institutional 2010 represented only 1,06 % of their GDP. framework for space activities. However, With the exception of Slovenia (2,1 %), the there are significant differences between the countries have a very small expenditure on countries, ranging from very well established R&D, which is approximately half of the EU agencies to a few dedicated offices within a 27 average level of 2,0% and 1/3 of the tar- ministry. Another important factor in this get level set within Horizon2020. With regard context is the development of a national to the space sector, expenditures are very space programme that aims at strengthening limited and in fact lower than those of other the national space industry as well as prepar- EU and ESA Members States. ing companies and scientific institutions for The range of capabilities and expertise of space activities in the international field. The recent and aspiring ESA member states is process of institutionalisation seems to be very wide, taking into consideration their past proceeding – but not in all cases – hand in participation in the Soviet Intercosmos pro- hand with the process of involvement with gramme and participation in space missions ESA. As a matter of fact, countries that have with other international partners. They show already joined ESA tend to have a much a remarkably high level of interest in space more institutionally entrenched framework for science, as well as in navigation and remote space activities than ECS or countries with a sensing applications. It is noteworthy that framework agreement. Space activities in many of them are also involved in the pro- Latvia, Slovenia and Hungary are mainly en- duction/manufacturing of components and trusted to more recently established and less software products related to space technol- entrenched structures, the exception being ogy. Estonia with a highly sophisticated set-up. Countries that have only signed Cooperation Another major variable in the enlargement Agreements with ESA (Lithuania, Slovak Re- process is EU policy. The growing interest of public) have no specific institutional frame- the EU in European space activities will in fact work and no specific national agency is fore- significantly influence the already complex seen for the time being. In these countries, framework of ESA relations with its members the responsible Ministry is the Ministry of and aspiring countries. As a result, the Education. enlargement process could also be affected. On the other hand, the EU might also have Space activities in all recent and potential several motivations in promoting ESA future ESA member states are undertaken enlargement, mainly given its political will to according to different rationales and priori- create a Space Agency for Europe, and could ties. Yet, there are also broad common ra- therefore deploy a number of its general tools tionales such as the development of the na- to support the process (e.g. EU funding tional economy, industry and scientific insti- mechanisms, framework programmes, tech- tutions, the reinforcement of technological nology platforms and education and research skills, further integration into Europe and the activities). European market, and the will to exploit the societal benefits deriving from space applica- tions. Apart from the recent ESA member Recommendations states, most aspiring countries have not yet fully implemented a specific and robust space Based on the experiences of recent ESA policy. All of them, however, have clearly member states, on the analyses of the cur- identified the range of priorities they want to rent status of aspiring countries, and on the focus on. Taking into consideration the size of conclusions of the ESPI workshop on “ESA their economies, they generally do not aim at Enlargement”, the present report aims at having a huge space programme in the near discussing the possibilities of strengthening term: they concentrate their limited re- the current framework and introducing new sources on a few fields or follow a niche tools to respond to the specific needs of dif- strategy by putting emphasis on activities ferent countries and subsequently enable with high economic efficiency. An important them to achieve “happiness” within the ESA priority is the participation in international family. space programmes that would bring recogni- Two main categories of such instruments are tion of their expertise vis-à-vis international presented: those aimed at strengthening partners. national industries and preparing them for The financial framework for R&D and space the competitive environment in ESA, which activities in the recently added and possible can be referred to as industry-oriented, and future ESA member states shows wide dis- those that are institution-oriented tools, in- parities between the different countries, both tended to increase awareness among public in absolute and relative terms. The average and decision-makers in order to strengthen the space education system and to foster
ESPI Report 47 7 January 2014
cooperative and efficient relations between 3. Efficient and mutually beneficial interplay government, universities and industries. (within and) among the three pillars (in- Firstly, the role of business angels is ad- stitutions, academia, industries) has dressed with the aim of enlarging the na- proved to be fundamental in order to op- tional industrial base through the support of timize the use of resources and integrate start-ups and spin-offs. Mentoring pro- complementary capabilities and ideas. In- grammes for industry, academia and institu- ternal coordination (i.e. among the differ- tions are proposed with the objective of ent research institutions or different min- strengthening the industries, scientific institu- istries involved in space activities, which tions and capabilities of public stakeholders, usually have different visions and pur- respectively. The creation of Space Business poses) constitutes a precondition for re- Incubators in aspiring countries is discussed lating with other national stakeholders as business stimulants and instruments for and for the establishment of a “one raising awareness to obtain public and politi- voice” system towards ESA and other cal support for space activities. Particular possible international partners. emphasis is placed on the possibility of estab- 4. Progressive budgetary consolidation ap- lishing interest groups for industry and scien- pears to be compulsory for all aspiring tific institutions (following the NordicBaltSat1 countries. As the analysis has shown, example) or public institutions (following the with very few exceptions R&D expendi- example of EISC). Finally, new possible in- tures of ESA enlargement States are still struments for ESA are also identified. In par- low in absolute terms and their R&D in- ticular, the idea of a specific optional pro- tensity represents only half of the EU av- gramme for ECS countries is highlighted, erage level of 2% and 1/3 of the target where industry would be submitted to limited level set within Horizon 2020. Despite in- competition. The possible pitfalls and limita- creases in recent years, the budget for tions of all these measures are also analysed. space activities in ECS are still too mod- Based on these analyses, several recommen- est, while Framework Agreement coun- dations and actions can be proposed: tries fail to secure the necessary dedi- cated budget. In order to avoid a too For Aspiring Countries steep increase in involvement when pass- ing from ECS status to full membership, 1. At national level, the first recommenda- budgets should be gradually enhanced. In tion concerns the appropriate organisa- addition, this will bring policy-makers into tion and coordination of space activities. the arena in order to ensure a predictable It is essential for most of the examined and stable funding environment for long- countries – especially those that have term strategic activities. just recently established cooperative links with ESA – to create a more specific 5. When focusing on budgetary consolida- framework for space activities in their tion, governments themselves should country. The creation of a space agency elaborate arguments for the investment is not in all cases a necessity, but having in space activities and for ESA participa- a defined framework for the coordination tion, and present the benefits of this in- of space activities is indispensable. vestment to the wider public - especially in terms of economic growth and the ser- 2. Concerning national space policies, a vices to be offered. Raising public aware- primary step is the elaboration of a na- ness (the creation of a “case for space”) tional space plan providing the basis for and subsequent political support are pre- the decision making process and defining conditions for investing in space. A main the national objectives of space activities. tool in this respect is to develop an active A clear long-term vision as well as mid- and coherent public information strategy, term objectives to ensure the accom- complemented by promotion activities at plishment of the former needs to be iden- national and regional scale. tified. In the drawing up of a national plan, space priorities have to be defined 6. Considering the size of the economy of by the government side and by indus- current aspiring ESA member states and trial/scientific institutions in order to build their limited financial resources, it is rec- sustainable cooperation based on strong ommended that they follow a niche strat- fundamentals. egy by putting emphasis on selected market opportunities.2 Small countries in particular, must carefully consider their
1 The NordicBaltSat initiative 2 Beyond reinforcing the industry, by creating a critical (http://www.nordicbaltsat.eu/front) is described in more mass or by following a niche strategy, it is necessary to be detail in Chapter 0 of the present report. aware of ESA standards and understand “ESA culture”.
ESPI Report 47 8 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
broad scientific priorities and focus on the establishing prime-subcontractor rela- most promising fields. In this respect, it tions with other industries, or encourag- is important to bear in mind that being ing foreign companies to invest in the involved in the supply of space services space sector in ESA enlargement states) offers much more growth potential than and public institutions (in sharing experi- on the manufacturing side. In this con- ence and looking for common means to text, the ESA IAP programme has proved meet common needs (not only in regard to be a useful vehicle to start in this do- to ESA activities). Regional and sub- main. regional cooperation among CEEs should be fostered also through the development 7. Given the shortage of young aerospace of Interest Groups. Such groupings could scientists, engineers and technicians in be institution-oriented (like EISC) or in- many aspiring member states, the space- dustry-oriented, modelled for instance on related academic system should be the successful experience of NordicBalt- strengthened and educational activities Sat. intensified and better integrated with the needs of the national industry and re- 11. Active participation in the elaboration and search institutions. The establishment of implementation of the ESP, in particular mentoring programmes or an institution with the aim of fully utilising the opportu- of dedicated professionals such as profes- nities offered by the EU flagship pro- sor-consultants could be of great help in grammes, Copernicus and Galileo, could realising these objectives. At the same be a priority. Taking common action to- time it is essential to motivate students wards the EU to facilitate the manage- to study and work in the fields of space ment of cohesion funds for space applica- engineering, technology and science in- tions as a very efficient means for con- cluding through their active participation vergence should also be considered. in practical experiences in real space pro- 12. The creation of a dedicated space incuba- jects with industry and research institu- tor programme in ECS countries through tions. active involvement and coordination be- 8. Enterprises and research institutions tween the institutions in charge of space should encourage and support the estab- activities in ESA aspiring countries and lishment of Clusters and Technology Plat- their respective industries should be con- forms. Especially for smaller countries sidered as another initiative of primary with very few big companies, the creation importance. It is worth-mentioning that of groups of interconnected companies the establishment of these incubator pro- and associated institutions (e.g. faculties, grammes within ESA enlargement coun- research centres, SMEs) in the space field tries would also work the other way offer, beyond research and market- round: non-space technologies would be oriented opportunities, the possibility to transferred into the space industry. In overcome the lack of financial resources this way, technology transfers would help and mobilize a critical mass of national to reinforce the national industry by public and private resources in order to opening space business opportunities for bring tangible results in research and in- non-space industries, broadening their novative technologies. As shown, other business area and thus improving their benefits of these networks include access know-how and competitiveness. This ob- to specialized human resources, suppliers jective could be best achieved by facilitat- and knowledge. In addition, information ing the linkage and the collaboration be- flow between the public administration tween these newly established Space in- and scientific/industrial institutions of the cubators and the European Space Incuba- national space sector would be facilitated. tors Network (ESINET). 9. In relations with ESA, on the one side it is 13. Finally, the possibility of offering mentor- necessary to promote and learn about the ing programmes for industry should be ESA complex of technical, administrative seriously explored. In some cases, ECS and financial rules and procedures as well already have a solid industrial base in as activities and programmes, courses, non-space related sectors that might be traineeships, etc., and on the other side able to be expanded into the space busi- to make ESA learn about the country ness. Providing space market experience, (priorities, financial situation, capabilities useful networks and expertise is there- and expertise). fore a primary requirement that could be met by the institutions responsible for 10. At the international level, enabling keys space activities in the ESA aspiring coun- include developing cooperation with in- tries setting up such mentoring pro- ternational partners, both industry (i.e. grammes. They could be cost-effective
ESPI Report 47 9 January 2014
solutions that would be of great help for addition, looking at the current results of ECS. In the execution of such pro- the programme, it is worth noting that grammes collaboration with established the ESA education programme has al- firms and international initiatives (e.g. ready produced remarkable results, which the Initiative on Space Promotion and were highly beneficial for ECS. Specific Education – ISPE) should be pursued. education programmes could be of great Through this eventual international col- potential benefit for countries on the road laboration, mentoring programmes could to full ESA membership. Harmonisation be offered not only to industry, but also with the education programmes provided to support the institutions of ESA aspiring within the EU frame should be encour- members in defining and implementing a aged. Finally, the possibility of leveraging coherent and effective space policy. this programme in countries with only a Cooperation Agreement should also be For ESA considered. The aim of easing the process of integration 4. ESA could also define new accompanying with ESA is hard to achieve if the actions of measures that would ease the way even aspiring members are not complemented by further for aspiring countries. The estab- the equally important support of the Agency. lishment of specific optional programmes Although, ESA is already providing a range of for ECS countries whose industries would supportive measures the establishment of be subject to limited competition might new tools should be considered. for instance be considered. Such an ini- tiative would help industries in aspiring 1. ESA might consider reviving the Associate countries to be better prepared for the Membership as a further intermediate competitive environment in ESA and to step in order to alleviate the significant establish partnerships between compa- budgetary step-increase when passing nies and institutions from these coun- from the ECS status to full membership. tries. In this regard, it has to be remembered that the PECS programme has been in- 5. Finally, the possibility of offering mentor- troduced because the Associate Member- ing programmes to ECS should be seri- ship status was seen as a too broad in- ously explored by ESA as well. The provi- volvement compared to the bare coop- sions of such mentoring programme eration agreement. However, the same could be for instance contemplated in the could be said when passing from the ECS PECS scheme or, alternatively when sign- status to a full membership. The much ing the ECS agreement. bigger involvement required by full ESA membership could therefore be mitigated For the EU if Associate Membership would again be Given the various benefits the EU would gain possible and would constitute a further from ESA enlargement, the EU itself, along- supporting measure in the path of rap- side with ESA and the aspiring member prochement to ESA. states, could play a more active role in ad- 2. Some of the current mechanisms for co- vancing the expansion process. operation and assistance for aspiring ESA 1. Specific mechanisms for supporting the members could be strengthened. Within enlargement process could be established the new National Trainee Scheme, for in- in coordination with ESA. Within the co- stance, opportunities are exclusively re- hesion policy instruments, for instance, a lated to scientific and technical subjects. dedicated budget for the development of However, space policy issues are also of space-based applications could be se- vital importance to ESA candidate coun- cured (and managed through an ESA-EU tries, and therefore the Agency should coordination group). The ERDF and the consider offering policy related trainee ESF are EU financial instruments that programmes as well. could be deployed in a space context. The 3. The ESA education programme could be particular goal for the ESF, for example, leveraged more extensively in ECS coun- is the creation of new and qualitatively tries and at the same time cross-fertilised better jobs in the EU by co-funding re- with EU education programmes. Taking gional, national and local projects. Space into consideration that the programme leads to innovation and research and aims at ensuring the availability of a therefore could be key to the creation of suitably qualified workforce for ESA and new or better jobs. the European space sector in the future, 2. In addition, more specific education pro- it seems clear that this is also fundamen- grammes – possibly linked to those of the tal for aspiring ESA member states. In ESA – could be offered to ECS.
ESPI Report 47 10 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
3. The EU could fund traineeships for gradu- erful tool to stimulate young people and ates in the space field that would be exe- to engage a broad segment of the popu- cuted by and within ESA. Such trainee- lation. Such platforms could be designed ships could be offered particularly to especially for youth in aspiring countries young people of aspiring countries. under the guidance of experts from Euro- pean institutions. 4. It is conceivable that the EU could start nano-satellite projects, focused on aspir- 6. The EU could extend its regional initia- ing countries. By starting such projects, tives in promoting education and training the EU would support those countries in as a way of connecting neighbouring developing their space industry and pro- countries, by building a platform in the moting space to the public. Moreover, it field of space for EU member states that would further facilitate their ESA acces- are not yet members of ESA. sion process. 7. Awareness-raising initiatives (such as the 5. The EU could develop crowd-sourcing European Space Expo) could be strength- platforms or associated prizes for the ened in ESA aspiring countries. best ideas on space. This could be a pow-
ESPI Report 47 11 January 2014
1. Introduction
From its establishment in 1975, the European To this end, in March 2012 ESPI organised a Space Agency (ESA) was conceived as an workshop entitled “ESA Enlargement – What inter-governmental organisation open to co- interested countries can do to prepare them- operation with other international organisa- selves for ultimate accession”. The objective tions and non-member states. Its progressive of the workshop was to set up a discussion enlargement with new European member platform to elaborate on the process of facili- states was envisaged from the very first tating the participation of new member states stages. in ESA. The event saw the participation of a number of personalities from ESA and the The core purpose of ESA “to provide for and aspiring member states, demonstrating the promote cooperation among European States relevance of the issue for the future of in space research and technology and their Europe in space. The International Coopera- space applications”, as set out in Article II of tion program, the Education Office and the its Convention, has gradually reinforced the PECS program represented ESA. There were idea of building up an Agency that is truly also speakers from the policy-making side, representative of European identity. Starting the business sector, space industry and or- with 10 member states, ESA has grown to ganizations (a summary of the workshop is now have 20 member states with several presented in Annex A.1). Based on the dis- more preparing to join. It can be realistically cussions and findings of this workshop, this assumed that ultimately all EU member report will first address the difficult transition states will become ESA member states, and from non-member state to member state and that Switzerland and Norway, despite their examine the current supporting framework lack of membership of the EU will continue to provided by ESA in the enlargement process. be part of ESA. At the present time all EU An in-depth analysis of the boundary condi- member states that are not yet Members of tions contained in the ESA Convention, in ESA cooperate with ESA in one form or an- particular the provisions of Article XIV and other. XXII as well as the more recent supporting The recent (i.e. 2004, 2007, 2013) EU instruments introduced by the Agency will be enlargements towards Central and Eastern provided and the socio-economic and political Europe pose a new challenge in the gradual benefits and costs of the enlargement will be cycle of integration of all EU member states discussed. into ESA. As the Director General of ESA, The focus will be then shifted to an analysis Jean-Jacques Dordain, recently stressed in of the current status of recent and future ESA the Agenda 2015: “the most significant and member states, namely the Czech Republic, visible changes for ESA in the years to come Romania and Poland on the one side and on are undoubtedly the increase of the number Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, of its member states with a progressive ac- Slovakia on the other. The section will pro- cession of all the EU member states to the vide a comparative analysis of the respective Convention of ESA. This will make a different institutional frameworks, policies, budgets ESA, much closer to the membership of the and capabilities; it will also examine the rela- EU, with many more member states, but still tionships with ESA and will finally identify the with programmes and budget driven by a few common challenges they face in achieving big contributors.”3 The ESA enlargement “happiness within the ESA family”. The chap- process, however, is both lengthy and com- ter will provide some considerations on the plex, and presumes a detailed investigation complex ESA-EU relationships and on the role of whether aspiring member states have the the EU can play in promoting ESA enlarge- necessary tools to integrate their industries ment. and scientific institutions into ESA’s highly competitive environment. A specific chapter is dedicated to the poten- tial instruments ESA and aspiring member states could use to ease the process of adap- 3 Cit., “Agenda 2015. A Document by the ESA Director General. 29 Nov. 2011. European Space Agency 29 Oct. tion to the Agency. Experience has shown 2013 that despite various supportive measures
ESPI Report 47 12 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
adapting to ESA and its exigent require- main categories of such instruments are pre- ments. There are questions as to how the sented: those aiming at strengthening the existing tools can be deployed by national national industry and preparing it for the stakeholders in the best possible manner and competitive environment in ESA, which can questions on new possible tools must also be be referred to as industry-oriented, and the addressed. Can national stakeholders on their institution-oriented tools, intended to in- own define further accompanying measures crease the awareness among the public and that will ease their way even further? The decision-makers in order to strengthen the possibility of setting up new mechanisms of space education system and to foster coop- support or specific measures directed to can- erative and efficient relations between gov- didate states, including measures these ernment, universities and industries. states can take to help their industry and Finally, concluding remarks and a list of rec- scientific organisations survive in the com- ommended actions will be provided. petitive environment in ESA, is therefore analysed and discussed. In particular, two
ESPI Report 47 13 January 2014
2. The Setting
The agency has introduced an integration process and special measures to facilitate the 2.1 Boundary Conditions accession of interested countries. The Plan for European Cooperating States (PECS) is a Since its establishment in 1975, ESA has special measure for potential candidates. It undergone a process of gradual expansion, aims at strengthening the links between which, beyond the programmes and the European Cooperating States (ECS) and ESA budget, has manifested itself in the direction as well as assisting in the development of a of international cooperation with third states national space industry. Also, special meas- and organisations and the accession of new ures accompany a new member state for the member states. As a matter of fact, almost first few years of ESA membership in order to twelve years after the ESA Convention en- ease the integration of its industry. tered into force, the founding members were The situation of each state is very different in joined by Austria and Norway, followed by terms of capabilities and ambitions. Many Finland in 1995. In the last 13 years, Eastern European countries gained expertise enlargement has progressed faster and Por- in the space field during the Soviet era and tugal, Greece, Luxembourg, the Czech Re- still have talented space scientists and engi- public, and most recently Romania and Po- neers. However, some of these countries are land have joined the Agency.4 It is expected facing serious political and economic crises that other countries will follow and join the and political support for space activities dif- Agency in the medium term. Eastern Euro- fers strongly from country to country. pean countries such as, for example, Estonia, Latvia and Slovenia, are showing a strong The ESA Convention pays careful attention to interest in further developing their space international cooperation.5 In Article XIV, the activities and their cooperation with ESA. This Convention defines different mechanisms for eastward expansion could be beneficial to establishing co-operating links between the Europe’s space activities and strategies and Agency and third states or international or- carries opportunities as well as challenges for ganisations.6 According to the Article, coop- both the European space programme and the eration may take the form of specific agree- new member states. The challenges include, ments or participation in one or more ESA for example, the implementation of ESA’s programmes. Furthermore, it may also trans- industrial policy, which is based on free com- late into granting Associate Membership to petitive bidding and a fair geographic return. non-member states (see Figure 2).7 These Relations between ESA and CEE countries different forms of cooperation can, of course, started in the early 1990s thanks to PRODEX be combined. The provisions of Article XXII (Programme de Développement d'Expéri- define the arrangements for accession to the ences scientifiques). PRODEX is an optional Agency Convention. programme launched in June 1986 by the ESA Council. It aimed to provide funding for 5 the industrial development of scientific in- When dealing with ESA cooperation, there is a difference between “internal cooperative relations” among ESA struments and experiments proposed by sci- member states and “external cooperation”, which involves entific institutes or universities. The Pro- non-member states and other bodies. Internal cooperation gramme was open to both ESA member is not explicitly mentioned in the ESA Convention and is states and to non-member states. rather taken for granted. 6 For an analysis of the origins and the provisions of Article XIV see: Baudin, Catherine. “Cooperation and International Agreements. Article XIV of the ESA Convention.” Legal Aspects of Cooperation between the European Space 4 ESA now has 20 member states: Austria, Belgium, Agency and Central and Eastern European Countries. Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Proceedings of the International Colloquium Charles Uni- Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, versity, 11-12 Sept. 1997, Prague, Czech Republic. Euro- Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, pean Centre for Space Law, 1998. Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 7 See Article XIV of the ESA Convention. Resource docu- “New member states.” 2013. European Space Agency 29 ment: “ESA Convention and Council Rules of Procedure.” Oct. 2013 Dec. 2010. European Space Agency 29. Oct. 2013
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Article XIV Historically, Agency composition has grown COOPERATION as part of a gradual and step-by-step proc- 1. The Agency may, upon decisions of the ess, which is illustrated in Figure 3. This proc- Council taken by unanimous votes of all ess has followed an evolutionary pattern, member states, cooperate with other inter- according to which the cooperation estab- national organisations and institutions and lished by Article XIV constituted a kind of with Governments, organisations and insti- precondition or springboard for any subse- tutions of non-member States, and conclude quent accession pursuant to Article XXII.9 agreements with them to this effect. The acquisition of Associate Member status is 2. Such cooperation may take the form of not mandatory for a state to become a full participation by non-member States or in- member of ESA but allows associate mem- ternational organisations in one or more of bers to take part in the agency’s deliberative the programmes under Article V, 1 a (ii) and bodies and also in its programmes and activi- V, 1 b. Subject to the decisions to be taken ties. For example Austria, Norway and under paragraph 1, the detailed arrange- Finland went through Associate Member ments for such cooperation shall be defined in each case by the Council by a two-thirds status before they later joined ESA as full majority of the States participating in the members, while Portugal, Greece and Lux- programme in question. These arrange- embourg skipped this interim status and ments may provide that a non-member moved directly from Cooperation Agreements State shall have a vote in the Council when to full membership. Also the Czech Republic the latter examines matters pertaining ex- and the most recent member states Romania clusively to the programme in which that and Poland skipped associate membership, State participates. but went through the enlargement process 3. Such cooperation may also take the form via a Cooperation Agreement, ECS Agree- of according associate membership to non- ment and PECS. The different accession proc- member States which undertake to contrib- esses of these latter ESA member states are ute at least to the studies of future projects shown in Figure 4. under Article V, 1 a (i). The detailed ar- rangements for each such associate mem- bership shall be defined by the Council by a two-thirds majority of all member states.
Figure 2: Article XIV of the ESA Convention8
Figure 3: The path from cooperation to membership
9 Poncelet, Jean-Pol, Anabelle Fonseca-Colomb, and Giulio Grilli. “Enlarging ESA? – After the Accession of Luxembourg and Greece.” ESA Bulletin 120 (November 8 Ibid. 2004): 51-53.
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Figure 4: Different accession processes of ESA member states
The ESA accession process has evolved over ments results from the fact that “they estab- time and has been gradually modified and lish a number of guiding principles common enriched with new steps and supporting to the implementation of joint projects”.10 In measures aimed at better harmonising the many cases, after the signature of Frame- integration process. The following sections work Agreements, special implementing ar- analyse the boundary conditions and specific rangements are established for the execution steps for ESA accession, and focus on new of specific projects. A Cooperation Agreement steps and supporting measures introduced for has to be approved by the ESA Council, by aspiring countries. unanimous vote of all member states. At this stage, a country that signs the agreement 2.1.1 Article XIV.1 and Cooperation/Framework has very limited financial responsibilities. Agreement The procedure leading to the signature of such agreements can be summed up as fol- As discussed above, Article XIV of the ESA lows: Convention contains three paragraphs, each dealing with a different category of coopera- 1. The State willing to cooperate must pre- tion. The first paragraph, given its broad sent a formal request to ESA. wording, covers a wide range of relations; 2. The two parties then negotiate the terms from simple non-formal arrangements (ex- of the Agreement. change of letters, trainings, etc.) to formal 3. The relevant Programme Board, the In- types of cooperation, which are generally ternational Relations Committee (IRC) reflected in Framework Agreements. Coop- and the Administrative and Finance eration/Framework Agreements constitute Committee (AFC) examine and formulate the first level of formal cooperation with ESA. recommendations with a simple majority These agreements exclude any exchange of vote regarding the cooperation Agree- funds or participation in ESA programmes, ment. but provide the basis for cooperation and for progressing further. In concrete terms, the purpose of these agreements is threefold: they aim at a better exchange of information; 10 at initiating joint training programmes (in- Cit., Baudin, Catherine. “Cooperation and International cluding exchanges of scientists and engi- Agreements. Article XIV of the ESA Convention.” Legal Aspects of Cooperation between the European Space neers); and at facilitating arrangements for Agency and Central and Eastern European Countries. specific projects (Implementing Arrange- Proceedings of the International Colloquium Charles Uni- ments). The main advantage of such agree- versity, 11-12 Sept. 1997, Prague, Czech Republic. Euro- pean Centre for Space Law, 1998: 14.
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4. The Agreement goes for final approval to the procedure is concerned, the decision of the Council, which requires a unanimous the Council has to be taken by the unanimous vote of all member states. vote of all member states, while the detailed 5. The Agreement is signed by the Director arrangements for such cooperation shall be General (DG) of ESA and the Minister in defined in each case by the Council with a Charge of Space Affairs of the cooperat- two-thirds majority of the states participating ing state. in the corresponding programme.14 A “par- ticipation agreement”, signed between the ESA Cooperation/Framework Agreements are Agency and the non-member state defines built on a common model. After laying out the arrangements approved by the participat- the purpose, they define the areas and form ing states. These arrangements – as the ESA of cooperation, the mechanisms of coopera- Convention explicitly stresses – enable non- tion and the modalities of implementation. member states to “have a vote in the Council They subsequently contain regulations con- when the latter examines matters pertaining cerning information, data (and personnel) exclusively to the programme in which the exchange, privileges and immunities and, State participates”. finally, provisions on the settlement of dis- putes and entry into force.11 Cooperation In practice, under a “participation agree- Agreements have so far provided a valuable ment” there is little difference between mem- opportunity to learn about Agency procedures ber and non-member states, since also the and programmes and to start preparing the latter “have the right to vote, attend meet- industry and scientific institutions of the in- ings of the body in charge of monitoring the volved country for the integration process. programme and benefit from the Agency’s efforts to ensure an industrial return in pro- portion to the country’s contribution”15. It 2.1.2 Article XIV.2: Participation in ESA Optional goes without saying that the Agreement also Programmes imposes on the participating state the obliga- Cooperation under Article XIV.2 of the ESA tion to respect the legal terms defined by ESA Convention envisages the participation of for the implementation of the programme. non-member states or international organisa- For many former ESA non-member states, tions in one or more of the Agency’s pro- such as Finland, Austria and Norway, the grammes under Article V, 1 a (ii) and V, 1 b. possibility of participating in ESA optional More precisely, a state may participate in programmes was beneficial in preparing their mandatory activities, ‘ensuring the elabora- accessions to the ESA Convention. tion and execution of a scientific programme, including satellites and other space systems’. With respect to optional programmes, the 2.1.3 Article XIV.3: Associate Member State participation of a state may include “(i) the The step following a Cooperation Agreement design, development, construction, launch- and/or the participation in ESA programmes ing, placing in orbit, and control of satellites used to be Associate Membership. Associate and other space systems; and (ii) the design, Member State status is defined in Article development and construction and operation XIV.3 of the ESA Convention, which states of launch facilities and space transport sys- that cooperation with ESA “may also take the tems”12 form of according associate membership to Compared to framework agreements, this non-member States which undertake to con- represents an “advanced form of cooperation and demonstrates the willingness of a non- member state to become actively involved in ESA programmes and activities”13. As far as Agency and Central and Eastern European Countries. Proceedings of the International Colloquium Charles Uni- 11 As an example, see: “Agreement between the Govern- versity, 11-12 Sept. 1997, Prague, Czech Republic. Euro- ment of the Republic of Latvia and the European Space pean Centre for Space Law, 1998: 18. Agency Concerning Space Cooperation for Peaceful Pur- 14 See Article XIV.2 of the Convention for the Establish- poses.” 2013. The Government of the Republic of Latvia ment of a European Space Agency, Resource document: and the European Space Agency 29 Oct. 2013 “ESA Convention and Council Rules of Procedure.” Dec.
ESPI Report 47 17 January 2014
tribute at least to the studies of future pro- 1987 respectively, which was a prelude to jects under Article V, 1 a (i)”.16 their subsequent accession.19 In fact, once the Associate Membership agreements had Associate Membership implies a more active been renewed, each country confirmed its involvement of non-ESA member states in intention to accede to the Convention. The Agency programmes and activities and is acquisition of Associate Membership status is considered a halfway house to full ESA mem- not mandatory for states to become full bership. As for “Participating Agreements”, members. This is shown by the fact that Aus- the status of Associate member state re- tria, Norway and Finland became associate quires a unanimous vote, but the detailed members before they joined the agency as arrangements are subject to the two-thirds full members, whereas Portugal, Luxembourg majority approval. It requires only a mini- and Greece skipped this step and moved mum level of participation in ESA mandatory from Cooperation Agreements direct to full programmes and a contribution to the ESA ESA membership. Also the guidelines con- general budget on the basis of average na- cerning Associate Membership Agreement tional income. Programmatically, the Associ- adopted by the ESA Council in October 1985 ate Member must participate in some of affirm that Associate Membership and acces- ESA's mandatory activities17 and can partici- sion have to be treated separately and that pate in optional programmes with a guaran- the former is not “a preliminary for accession teed minimum industrial return as well as in and would not lead automatically to acces- scientific and technical research studies, re- sion.”20 Nevertheless, Associate Membership ceiving the results of such studies. status has always aimed at making interested Regarding representation, the arrangements countries more familiar with the Agency’s provide that a non-member state “shall have procedures and programmes. Experience has a vote in the Council when the latter exam- shown that, despite the various supportive ines matters pertaining exclusively to the measures, new member states have had a programme in which that State participates hard time adapting to ESA’s competitive envi- or when its financial interests are involved. In ronment and its exigent requirements. Some addition, the Associate Member shall have cases have shown that particular problems observer status in the Council for matters of arise if a state is less familiar with Agency common interest. The Associate Membership procedures and programmes, especially re- Agreement usually also contains dispositions garding the inclusion of companies in activi- on preferential use, where each party com- ties and the application of industrial policy. mits to giving preference to products or ser- At present, Canada enjoys a status similar to vices available from the other.18 The Associ- that of an associate member of ESA, but this ate Member should therefore use the Euro- cannot be understood as a step towards full pean space transportation systems, facilities membership (Canada not being a European and products of ESA for its own needs, and in state), as demonstrated by the fact that Can- having access to the Agency ´s facilities and ada has been in this position for over thirty services shall bear the costs related thereto. years. The participating state may renew or end the Associate Membership Agreement after 3-5 years, or change its nature by applying for 2.1.4 The European Cooperative State (ECS) accession under article XXII of the ESA Con- Agreement and PECS vention. After participating in some optional The ECS agreement allows indirect access to programmes of the Agency, Austria, Norway current ESA programmes and activities and and Finland were the first countries to get should create and strengthen the industrial Associate Member status, in 1979, 1981 and expertise and capacity of the country. In October 1999, ESA organised a workshop 16 See Article XIV.3 of the Convention for the establish- in Hungary to analyse cooperation between ment of a European Space Agency. Resource document: the agency and CEE countries and to identify “ESA Convention and Council Rules of Procedure.” Dec. its possible evolution in the future. During 2010. European Space Agency 29. Oct. 2013
ESPI Report 47 18 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
this meeting ESA and the participating states, underlined that there is no obligation to ac- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and cede to the ESA Convention after this period, Romania presented their respective future “but the objective is clearly to associate the plans and programmes in the space field. ECS to ESA programmes and activities and to Participants came to the conclusion that one prepare in the most efficient manner for a of the main difficulties for aspiring countries future accession to the Convention”23. After was the big step from a general Cooperation the five years term countries can decide Agreement to an Associate Membership whether to continue cooperation with the Agreement. The initially proposed path of Agency under a new ECS Agreement (as was cooperation to become a member state of the case for Hungary), to apply for Associate ESA simply did not suit their needs or finan- Membership, or to apply directly for full cial capabilities.21 Indeed, an Associate Mem- membership. bership agreement, which obliged financial ECS status is directly associated with the Plan participation at a rate of 50% of what the for European Cooperating States (PECS), state would pay to the general budget as a launched by the ESA Council in 2001 and full member, constituted too steep an in- operational since 200324. PECS provides the crease of expenditure. Therefore, participants opportunity for European Cooperating States proposed an intermediate step that would to take an indirect part in ESA programmes facilitate the integration of aspiring countries and activities with a limited financial contri- and better fit their situations. Following this bution of at least one Million Euros per year, workshop, the ESA Council decided in De- “in accordance with the rules and procedures cember 1999 to set up an ad-hoc working of ESA” (i.e. non-distortion of competition, group to examine the Agency’s enlargement complementarily with existing ESA activities, process. One recommendation of this group transparency and fair equitable treatment, was the establishment of a specific frame- etc)25. Compared to Associate Member work that would facilitate the accession proc- status, ECS status involves lower participa- ess and be better suited than Associate tion in ESA internal costs, and can be easily Membership.22 afforded by the country concerned. The sub- The recommendations of the Working Group scription to the PECS Charter, describing the led to the creation of the new concept of projects to be undertaken and their funding, European Cooperating States (ECS). The ESA is normally made at least one year after the Council agreed this new status in 2001 as a signature of the ECS Agreement. Thus, Hun- new step towards full membership. It was gary signed the Charter in 2003 and became decided that states willing to assume ECS the first PECS country of ESA, followed by status must be European and have already other Eastern European countries as summa- signed a framework agreement with ESA. rised in Table 1. Most recently, Estonia and Hungary was the first state to sign an ECS Slovenia signed the PECS Charter in 2010, Agreement in 2003. To date, ESA has con- and Latvia will follow in the near future after cluded five more Agreements: with the Czech its signature of the ECS Agreement in March Republic in 2003, Romania in 2006, Poland in 2013. As can also be seen from Table 1, Hun- 2007, Estonia in 2009, and Slovenia in 2010. gary signed the Charter for a second time in ECS status should create and strengthen the 2008. To date, Bulgaria and Croatia are the industrial expertise and capacity of non- only EU member states that have not yet member states in order to have fair industrial signed a Cooperation Agreement, although participation in future ESA programmes and Bulgaria has already announced its intention an equitable geographical return after acces- to participate in ESA activities and sign an sion to the Convention. It enables states to agreement26. have indirect access to programmes and ac- tivities while also fostering their understand- ing of ESA’s organisation and functioning as well as European space products and proce- dures. Another important objective is to en- 23 Cit. Ibid.: 86. sure coherence between the space activities 24 Poncelet, Jean-Pol, Anabelle Fonseca-Colomb, and of ECS and ESA member states, for example Giulio Grilli. “Enlarging ESA? – After the Accession of by avoiding duplication of activities. Luxembourg and Greece.” ESA Bulletin 120 (November 2004): 49-53. ECS Agreements are signed for five years and 25 See Article 10 of ESA Procurement Regulations. Refe- cancel any previous agreement. It must be rence Document: European Space Agency. Procurement Regulations. Paris: ESA, 2008. Document available at:
ESPI Report 47 19 January 2014
Proba-2 mission, with the design of both in- struments supported through PECS28. In order to prepare the industries of Euro-
ECS tion pean Cooperating States for the competitive PECS
Charter Charter environment in ESA, calls for proposals are Coopera- Agreement Agreement Agreement made according to the standard procedures of the Agency, including the use of EMITS st 1 : 2003 (Electronic Mailing Invitation to Tender Sys- Hungary 1991 2003 nd 2 : 2008 tem), so that companies and institutions can Czech get used to these procedures. A specific PECS 1996 2003 2004 Republic committee, composed of representatives of the ECS and observers of ESA member Romania 1992 2006 2007 states, monitors the execution of the activi- ties. The programme mechanism is illustrated Poland 1994 2007 2008 in Figure 5. Estonia 2007 2009 2010 Industries in aspiring countries gain from the Slovenia 2008 2010 2010 PECS programme as the respective states secure funding and provide continuity for Latvia 2009 2013 - national space related activities over a longer Cyprus 2009 - - period. Thus, it stimulates industrial activities and cooperation at both national and interna- Slovakia 2010 - - tional level and allows access to ESA techno- Lithuania 2010 - - logical knowledge and support. Additionally, organisations and institutions can become Malta 2012 - - more familiar with ESA standards and proce- dures and prepare for full and effective mem- Table 1: Key dates in the ESA Enlargement process bership, in order to be able to compete at equal level with other member states for The main objective of the PECS programme is industrial returns. Through PECS, ESA has to associate Cooperating States with ESA demonstrated its capacity-building efforts. programmes and activities in order to pre- Three former PECS countries, the Czech Re- pare them in the most efficient manner for public, Romania and Poland are now full possible future accession to the ESA Conven- members of the Agency. Current ECS Hun- tion. It should create and strengthen their gary, Estonia and Slovenia, having shown respective industrial expertise and capacity their willingness for closer cooperation, may and therefore allow fair and equitable indus- follow in the near future and, equally impor- trial participation in future ESA programmes, tant, countries like Latvia and Lithuania have with a view to future accession to the expressed strong interest in the PECS pro- Agency. In that respect, yearly reviews of gramme and may soon apply to participate. projects are organised between ESA and the ECS to discuss convergence and complemen- Even though the procedures within the PECS tarity of industries in the ECS with the space programme, including the use of EMITS and 27 the call for proposals, help to prepare indus- industries of ESA member states . tries in aspiring countries for later accession The PECS programme provides indirect ac- they still might have problems in surviving in cess to existing ESA programmes and activi- the competitive environment in the Agency. ties and allows gradual participation in inter- Therefore, additional measures could be use- nal ESA costs. The key areas covered by the ful in this respect in order to secure adequate programme are space sciences (including geo-return right from the start. Furthermore, astronomy, astrophysics, solar system explo- it should be noted that many aspiring coun- ration, etc.), Earth observation (for example tries have said they have problems with the environmental monitoring or meteorology), PECS mechanism as they find it cumbersome telecommunication and navigation, life and and complicated. physical sciences (e.g. space biology and medicine), space technology, as well as ground segment engineering and utilisation. In November 2009, for instance, the Czech Republic flew its first ESA payloads on the
28 “Slovenia’s PECS Signature Kicks off Busy Year.” 22 27 Fonseca, Annabelle. “ESA: From Cooperation to Acces- Feb. 2010. European Space Agency 29 Oct. 2013 sion.” Presentation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI,
ESPI Report 47 20 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
Figure 5: PECS Programme Mechanism29
2.1.5 Moves towards EU Members The ESA Director General also initiated a series of bi-annual consultation meetings. Another step toward the progressive in- These meetings are held in different ESA volvement of non-member states was made establishments with the participation of non- in June 2011, when the ESA Council decided ESA EU member states.31 to invite EU member states that are not Members of ESA to attend ESA Council meet- Finally, a new National Trainee Scheme was ings and some subordinate bodies as observ- also presented in May 2011 by the ESA Direc- ers for agenda items of common interest to tor General, targeting non-ESA EU members ESA and the EU. Observer status was granted and inspired by the successful Portuguese to 10 countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Trainee Programme introduced in conjunction Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the with the Portuguese accession. The pro- Slovak Republic and Slovenia. Eight of these gramme was designed for engineering and countries had already established formal co- science graduates from non-ESA EU member operation with ESA, either as part of Euro- states interested in receiving on-the-job pean Cooperating State Agreements or gen- training on space technologies for 12 months. eral Cooperation Agreements. In October The National Trainee Scheme has three main 2011, all these 10 EU countries that were objectives: non-members of ESA started to attend ESA • To help meet national space industry Council meetings as observers. Observer needs of skilled staff; status is defined by the Rule 23 of the ESA • To support effective cooperation with Council Rules of Procedure that were ap- ESA by creating links; 30 proved in 1979: • To increase awareness of ESA32. • It is granted by unanimous decision of The realisation of these objectives constitutes the Council. a step forward for these countries in prepara- • It gives the right to be represented in tion for accession to the ESA Convention. The meetings of the Council. programme is based on an agreement be- • It gives no voting rights. tween ESA and the national entity. It is funded by national entities willing to send their students. Therefore, this national entity selects trainees and proposes them to ESA, 29 Zufferey, Bernard. “The Plan for Europe Co-Operating which decides whether to accept or deny the States (PECS). Towards an Enlarged ESA Partnership.” proposition. Practical implementation started Presentation. ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands. 22 Nov. in 2011, when indications of areas of interest 2006. were received by ESA and training opportuni- 30 See Rule 23 of European Space Agency Council Rules of Procedure. Resource Document: “ESA Convention and Council Rules of Procedure.” Dec. 2010. European Space 31 Fonseca, Annabelle. “ESA: From Cooperation to Acces- Agency 29. Oct. 2013 sion.” Presentation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI,
ESPI Report 47 21 January 2014
ties were prepared and distributed to partici- annual series of teacher (primary & secon- pants. Despite thirty training opportunities dary) training sessions in cooperation with available in 201233, no agreement has been national partners. They use and disseminate signed yet and very limited feedback on the existing ESA/ESERO education materials, and training opportunities was received by ESA.34 if appropriate, develop specific resources tailored to the needs of the education com- Furthermore, it must be underlined that munity. The ESERO offices also organise na- trainee opportunities are currently exclusively tional ESERO teacher conferences for secon- related to scientific and technical subjects. dary and primary education”38. At intermedi- However, as space policy issues are of vital ary and tertiary level there are also a number importance to ESA candidate countries, it of activities. The projects deal with micro and could be of interest for the Agency to offer hyper gravity activities (“Fly Your Thesis”, law policy related trainee programmes as “Drop Your Thesis” and “Spin Your Thesis”), well. micro satellites (ESEO), nano satellites Another important measure potentially bene- (CanSats), rocket and balloon experiments fiting a country intending to join ESA is the (REXUS and BEXUS), etc. Education programme.35 It is a programme Even though the Education Programme was that aims at ensuring the availability of a originally conceived for member states, ECS suitably qualified workforce for ESA and the countries could also potentially gain from its European space sector in the future (by moti- opportunities, for example by taking part in vating students to work in the fields of space current educational activities (e.g. parabolic engineering, technology and science, and by flights, Cansat activities, etc.) or participating providing university students with ‘first’ prac- in training and systems engineering work- tical experience in real space projects – shops. Many of the projects have already mainly via micro/nano/pico-satellites pro- resulted in beneficial effects for ESA recent grammes). Education can use space as a and future member states. Thanks to the theme “to enhance the literacy of young peo- CubeSats project, for instance, Romania, ple in science and technology and motivate Hungary and Poland each succeeded in young Europeans to pursue a space related launching their first satellite on the VEGA career”36. In a parallel way, it can increase maiden flight on 13 February 2012. In 2011, the continuous professional development for 97 students from ESA aspiring member teachers. In concrete, the main objectives of states took part in ESA tertiary education the Education programme are37: projects (Estonia (7), Hungary (9), Poland • To support teachers to meet the very di- (40), Romania (27), and Slovenia (14))39. verse needs of 20 member states. • To provide university students with prac- tical experience in real space-related pro- 2.1.6 Accession to the ESA Convention jects. After the conclusion of a five-year PECS pro- • To support the academic development gramme, the ECS can: a) continue to cooper- and career prospects of postgraduate ate with ESA by signing an extension to the students in member states. PECS Agreement for another 5 years, as was • To inform and inspire teachers and stu- the case for Hungary, b) apply for Associate dents through a variety of initiatives. Membership, or c) apply directly to become a Although it must be pointed out that ESA is member state. When a state intends to join not an educational institution, education is an the Agency as a full member, it can make a important activity as the space sector is fac- direct request to ESA. Article XXII of the ESA ing strong lack of interest by young people. Convention lays down the procedure for ac- cession, which can be summarized as follows: The Education Programme is implemented at different levels. At the primary/secondary • A formal letter is sent by a Prime Minister level, the ESERO project “implements an or a Minister in Charge of Space Affairs to the ESA Director General. • The ESA Director General will then pre- 33 Training opportunities in 2012 by ESA facilities: ESTEC (18), ESOC (8), ESRIN (3), ESAC (1). sent the request to ESA member states 34 Maura, Fernando. “The ESA National Trainee Scheme.” and will ask for the mandate to start ne- Presentation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI, Vienna, gotiations. Austria. 23 Mar. 2012. 35 “ESA at the Forefront of Space Education.” European Space Agency. 10 Dec. 2013 38 Cit., “European Space Education Resource Office.”
ESPI Report 47 22 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
• Admission by accession will follow a for a portion of a country’s contribution to unanimous Council decision on the Mem- mandatory activities to be used directly for bership application. funding those activities intended to help na- • It enters into force after the ratification tional firms adapt to the Agency’s require- and the deposit of the instrument of ac- ments.42 However, it was also agreed that no cession of the involved State with the guarantees for the industrial return would be Government of France40. given in relation to mandatory activities, and no provision would be made for any compen- As accession to the ESA Convention involves sation at the end of the transition period. Any acceding to a treaty, it goes without saying statistical records for that period are dis- that only a government can take such an carded and only subsequent industrial-return initiative. Article XXII states that any state valuations will follow the method applied to may apply for membership, but according to all the member states. The implementation of the object and purpose of the Convention set the new member state’s industry incentive out in Article II, only European states may scheme is followed by the Office for Support come into consideration. Another relevant to New Member States and European Coop- aspect for accession to the ESA Convention is erating States, which also acts as secretariat in Article XIII.4.a. The article affirms that for specific task forces for NMS. In order to “any State that was not a party to the Con- advise ESA’s Director General on the use of vention … shall make, in addition to its con- the contribution, a specific Task Force is set tribution a special payment related to the up which is composed of representatives des- current value of the assets of the Agency. ignated by ESA’s Director General and the The amount of this special payment shall be government of the involved country, and co- fixed by the Council by a two-thirds majority chaired by an ESA representative and one of all member states”.41 This “entrance fee” from the interested country. The executive of can be used to reduce the contributions of this Task Force (its secretary) is also nomi- the other member States unless otherwise nated by ESA’s Director General. decided by the Council. The main goal of the Task Force is to maxi- It should be recalled that since the estab- mise the country’s industrial return and to lishment of ECS status, the Czech Republic, guarantee the best possible adjustment of Romania and Poland are the first examples of industry, in order to avoid critical issues expansion through the ECS process. Estonia, when the transition period finally terminates. Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Slo- It has the role of supporting the identification vakia are expected to follow the same pat- of transitional measures and recommending tern. them to the ESA DG for implementation. In addition, the Task Force strives to become a 2.1.7 Transition Measures towards New Mem- facilitator for the implementation of the nor- bers mal ESA procurement procedures and fosters long-term relations between new member When new members started to join the state firms and well established European Agency in larger numbers, it became clear space companies. that it would not be possible to immediately apply the clause of “geographical fair return” The Most Recent Cases explicitly provided for in the Agency's indus- trial policy. Starting with the ratification of After the ratification of the ESA Convention Portugal, ESA decided to establish a period of by the Czech Parliament and Senate, the transition in order to enable the New Member Czech Republic entered a transition period States (NMS) to adjust their industry to the that will end on 31 December 2014 (6 years Agency’s requirements. The transitional ar- after the ratification). This transitional meas- rangements – usually in the form of 5-9 ure was defined in the Treaty for the Acces- years Industry Incentive Schemes - are set sion of the Czech Republic to the ESA Con- out in the Accession Agreements and provide vention. The concept, “already proven with previous new ESA members” (Portugal, Greece and Luxembourg) aims to help to 40 See Article XXII of the Convention for the Establishment of a European Space Agency. Resource Document: “ESA ensure that Czech industry and academia Convention and Council Rules of Procedure.” Dec. 2010. develop the capabilities to participate in ESA European Space Agency 29. Oct. 2013 programmes.
ESPI Report 47 23 January 2014
ing those 6 years, to advise ESA’s Director space faring nations, such as the United General on the implementation of measures States or Russia. Membership also demon- aimed at adapting the Czech Republic’s in- strates, at political national and international dustry, scientific community and other or- levels, how space is important for the coun- ganisations to ESA’s requirements.43 To- try. In addition to this, membership makes it gether with the relevant ministries, the Task possible for aspiring countries to become Force is helping the Czech industry to de- more involved in joint EU-ESA programmes velop skills and opportunities in order to be- and can support their development and ad- come more familiar with ESA business culture dress some of their societal issues (develop- and procedures, and more competitive with ment, environmental protection, etc). Finally, ESA member states’ industry. For this pur- it should not be underestimated that becom- pose, the Czech Industry Incentive Scheme ing an ESA member might raise public inter- allocates 45% of the mandatory contribution est and will to invest in space-related activi- to ESA over the mentioned period. The re- ties.46 maining funding is allocated for mandatory The economic benefits of ESA membership and optional programmes, in which the coun- are even more visible. Firstly, membership try has to compete with other ESA member would allow the ECS to participate in the states.44 European scientific programme, which is im- The same kinds of measures have been ap- portant to gain significant experience and proved for Romania. Also, the Polish govern- promote national expertise. Secondly, by ment arranged a series of Incentive Schemes deepening cooperation with the Agency the when the accession arrangement entered into member state automatically reserves funding force. More precisely, during the transition and provides continuity for national space- period – that will last five years (until the end related activities. Thanks to the geographic of 2017) – ESA will channel 45% of Poland’s return principle as well as the possibility of overall contribution to ESA´s mandatory ac- having access to ESA technological knowl- tivities to adapting Polish industry and scien- edge, the country stimulates industrial activi- tific community.45 ties and cooperation at both national and international level, and has access to the European technology market and the possibil- 2.1.8 ESA Membership: Benefits and Costs ity of participating in more European pro- Accession to the ESA Convention represents grammes. This eventually leads to the devel- the final stage of the process towards coop- opment of the general economy and to the eration with the Agency. It is quite clear that creation of a sort of virtuous circle, thanks to current cooperation with ECS is pursued by which the country will be able to further de- 47 ESA in order to enable these countries to join velop its space activities. the Agency in the nearer future. From the It is exactly in the economic field, however, perspective of the aspiring state, ESA mem- that ESA membership is also the most chal- bership can bring not only political and eco- lenging. Participation in ESA mandatory ac- nomic benefits, but the costs of such mem- tivities is costly. Considering that member- bership should not be dismissed. ESA mem- ship, as set out in the provisions of Article bership, as a key for expanding countries XIII of the ESA Convention, requires compul- space programmes, involves both political sory participation based on national GDP to and economic benefits. From a political point cover the general expenses of ESA and the of view, ESA membership is a tool for broader mandatory scientific programmes, the acces- political integration into Europe. The mem- sion of a country will of course oblige it to bership gives the country the status of a full boost its space budget (as happened recently partner and enhances the country’s prestige for Poland), even without considering poten- and international position. Membership also tial additional contributions to optional pro- entitles the country to affect the decision grammes. In this context, it has to be re- making process, both inside the ESA system called, however, that the PECS programme (where, in general, the “one member one was introduced because Associate Member vote” principle operates) and in the Commis- status was seen as too broad and constituted sion. It can also bring indirect benefits to the a much bigger involvement, which did not relationships that the country has with other suit the needs or financial capabilities of as- piring countries. Although, securing the 43 “Czech Flag Raised Over ESA.” 14 Nov. 2008. Euro- minimum 1 Million Euro PECS contribution pean Space Agency 18 Apr. 2013
ESPI Report 47 24 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
can be achieved without any difficulties by the whole range of space activities, but most of the aspiring countries, securing over presumably in subsystems and equip- years the much bigger investment that mem- ment, aiming at becoming a subcontrac- bership requires is a very significant step- tor of bigger industries. The development increase, which could to some extent be miti- and production capabilities should there- gated if Associate Membership was requested fore result in lower cost. From the market as a further intermediary step. point of view, new member states open opportunities for growth in delivering Another challenging issue is adaption to the space-based services (telecommunica- ESA working process, especially harmonisa- tions, navigation, integrated applications, tion to ESA standards. CEE countries have etc.) and through participating in a more already gained considerable expertise during integrated fashion in national security their participation in the space programmes and defence programmes; of the USSR. However, it might be difficult 6. Also for political reasons, ESA and the but also expensive for them to match their European space industry should be inter- quality and management standards with ested in contributing to the enlargement those that ESA requires. process since most space activities are al- Finally, another systemic issue has to be ready performed at European level in raised. Today, ESA promotes the application terms of budget, programmes and side of space-related activities. Space-based through a European technological and in- applications are already playing a crucial role dustrial base. The European Space Policy in every country’s space-related activities and and the European Space Programme are will do so even more in the future. Neverthe- becoming more and more tangible reali- less, if an aspiring country focuses only on ties and new member states are part of the development of applications, its industry the decision processes. Therefore it is will have problems in absorbing the geo- wise to nurture the “appetite” for space graphical return, as operational space appli- (see the reluctant voting patterns for cations will not normally be funded by ESA Galileo and GMES budgets). Another rea- and hence will not be reflected in the return. son is that institutional space budgets may be reduced because of financial con- In this context, the benefits for ESA and its straints, unless space-based solutions member states deriving from the enlarge- prove to bring added value to Europe at ment of the Agency should also be discussed. large in terms of economic results and Benefits that can be expected from the ongo- benefits to citizens. Ideally, new member ing enlargement process, which supports the states could be good targets to demon- entry of further Eastern (and Southern) strate this “space utility”. ESA should not European countries, can be summarised in stay outside this major trend and the the following points: space industry must participate in this 48 1. First of all, the enlargement will expand evolution. the current dimension of ESA and, pre- 7. Space is an integral part of ‘The European sumably, the ambitions of its space pro- Project’. Space builds bridges within gramme; Europe, and between Europe and the rest 2. ESA and Europe will benefit from highly of the world. It is important that these motivated engineers and some specific bridges are built with and by all European expertise in certain domains gained dur- States. The International Space Station is ing the Cold War period. This could, as a probably the best example. Although a consequence, produce a potential interest great success, for ‘European identity’ it to develop missing critical technologies would have been better that the Euro- and to reach the final aim of European pean partner would have been 30 Euro- Technology non-Dependence (ETnD); pean States rather than the 10 it actually 3. The enlargement will expand and rein- is. force the overall European scientific and 8. The enlargement could, of course, raise industrial base; institutional challenges, beyond the politi- 4. It will enrich the market with new niches, cal ones. As underlined by Charlotte will create new companies and will in- Mathieu, enlargement of the Agency crease employment; “might have first an impact on the ESA 5. From an industrial point of view, new industrial policy as well as an impact on member states can offer several opportu- the governance of the Agency, since it nities, as these countries have lower pro- duction costs, which can help increase the competitiveness of the European space sector in certain domains. A new 48. Maquet, Gilles. “Discussing Accompanying Processes.” member state will in fact specialise not in Presentation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI, Vienna, Austria. 23 Mar. 2012.
ESPI Report 47 25 January 2014
might affect the working rules of the has not yet signed a Cooperation Agreement, Agency”.49 despite its announced intention to participate in ESA activities. From an industrial point of view, European industry will face several challenges50: Despite the fact that CEE countries present similarities because of their common history, 1. The potential business volume of new and are for this reason considered a homoge- member states is recognised as small neous group, each of those countries has its (budget estimate for all NMS for 2020 is own specificities in terms of expertise, space about 170 Million Euros). Other countries activity management, funding mechanisms, may be more relevant for strategic alli- policies and priorities. ances for ESA programs; 2. The market attractiveness of new mem- This part of the study focuses on the experi- ber states should be compared with ex- ence of three recent ESA members (Czech port possibilities outside Europe; Republic, Romania and Poland) and on the 3. Local industries are not yet “ready for status of the most likely future members of space” and strong management and su- the Agency (namely Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia, pervision is necessary; Lithuania and Slovak Republic). Table 2 4. At government level, the organisation of shows an overview of the status of these space in terms of governance is not al- countries. A detailed overview is also pro- ways clear and therefore it is more diffi- vided in Annex A.2.
cult to understand government priorities at the industrial level and in terms of
space applications. bership 2.2 Current Status of Recent Charter Accession Full Mem- Agreement Agreement Agreement ECS Agree- ECS ment/PECS and Future ESA Member Cooperation States Czech Re- 1996 2003 / 2008 2008 public 2004 In the last decade, most Central and Eastern Romania 1992 2006 / 2011 2011 European Countries have expressed their 2006 intention to join ESA in the near future. By the end of this decade the Agency will proba- Poland 1994 2007 / 2012 2012 bly be composed of 29 members, which, after 2008 the most recent accession of Poland, is 9 Hungary 1991 2003 / - - more than today. The ESA integration proc- 2003 ess is open to all EU member states that are not yet members of the Agency. To date, Estonia 2007 2009 / - - however, it is mainly focused on the CEE 2010 region and the Baltic region and is being im- Slovenia 2008 2010 / - - plemented at different levels, according to 2010 the status of the country involved. Latvia 2009 2013 / - - Countries such as the Czech Republic, Roma- - nia and Poland have already gained member status, while other countries such as Estonia, Lithuania 2010 - - - and Slovenia are participating in the PECS Slovak 2010 - - - program. It is expected that they will join Republic ESA in the 2015/2016 timeframe. Countries such as Lithuania, or Slovakia, which have Table 2: Status of recent and prospective ESA member states, covered in the present report only signed a Cooperation Agreement, might join the Agency later, around the year 2018, and this might also end up being the time- The analysis is divided into five main sec- frame for accession by Hungary. To date, tions. A general overview of the economic Bulgaria is the only EU member state that weight of recent and future ESA member states within the EU economy is provided first. The following paragraph then reports on 49 Cit., Mathieu, Charlotte. “Space in Central and Eastern the organisational aspects of space activities. Europe. Opportunities and Challenges for the European An outline of the main rationales for space Space Endeavour. Addendum Exploratory Study on Esto- nia and Slovenia.” ESPI Report 8. October 2007: 25. activities in these countries and the main 50 Maquet, Gilles. “Discussing Accompanying Processes.” programmatic lines, strategies and financial Presentation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI, Vienna, framework will be presented. The fourth Austria. 23 Mar. 2012.
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paragraph deals with the main space-related FDI, but the other CEE countries also present capabilities and expertise while the fifth good prospects.52 Thanks to a combination of paragraph provides an overview of the status cheap labour costs, good infrastructure and of international cooperation both with the proximity to large European markets, many main international organisations in the field multinational enterprises have been attracted of space and with ESA. Finally, some consid- to the region.53 erations on the challenges these countries The actual economic weight of CEE countries, will face by joining ESA will be presented. however, should not be overestimated. Their GDP is only a small portion of the total GDP 2.2.1 Economic Weight of ESA Aspiring Members of the EU (as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 8). Thus, current ECS (namely Estonia, Slo- In order to better assess the current status venia and Hungary) together constitute only and future prospects for space activities in 1,93% of the total GDP of the EU27. Coun- potential future ESA member states, in CEE tries such as Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia, countries in particular, it is necessary to first which to date have only signed cooperation provide a general overview of their economic agreements with ESA, represent even less, situation, since this directly influences the namely 1,36% of EU GDP. Only Poland, Ro- development of space activities. The devel- mania and the Czech Republic, which are opment of space activities requires a solid already full members of ESA, account for a economy capable of sustaining long-term considerable percentage of total EU GDP - investments in R&D. about 8,58%. In addition, despite the steep The economies of CEE countries (namely increase of FDI inflows stimulated by years of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hun- political and economic liberalization, the re- gary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, gion still attracts only a small percentage of Slovakia and Slovenia) are currently under- global FDI inflows. The percentage is low not going a process of fast economic develop- only compared to other EU countries, but also ment. Since the fall of the communist gov- to the emerging economies in the rest of the 54 ernments in 1989, CEEs have been consis- world , and in no case has the magnitude of tently liberalizing their economies and have the inflow exceeded the range of $ 10 bil- 55 successfully completed the transition from a lion. centrally planned economy to a primarily Also concerning R&D, the average R&D inten- liberal market economy. Between 1995 and sity of CEE countries (R&D expenditure as a 2001 they all acceded to the WTO and by percentage of GDP) for 2010 stood at only 2004 to the EU, thus opening great opportu- 1,0%.56 With the exception of Slovenia, these nities for their economies. countries have a very small expenditure on With an average annual growth of 1,7% for R&D, which is approximately half of the EU the period 2007–2011 (as shown in Table 3), 27 average level of 2%, and is also far short the overall CEE economy is one of the fastest of the target of 3% set by the Lisbon Treaty. growing within the EU. This rate is remark- In the space sector, the economic weight of able, considering the economic recession of CEE countries is even smaller: in 2011 the the last years. In the pre-crisis period 2007 Czech Republic, Romania and Poland, which to 2008, in fact, the annual growth of these are all now members of ESA, accounted for countries was around 5% of their GDP, while 0,61% of ESA income from member states 57 in the years 2010/11 the rate was 2,75%. plus Canada. It is expected that ECS (Esto- This shows that CEE countries have been less nia, Hungary, Latvia, and Slovenia), given affected by the financial crisis than other EU the size of their economies, represent an countries. According to World Bank indica- even lower percentage. tors, most CEE countries can already be con- sidered as High Income Economies having an 52 “World Investment Report 2012. Towards a New Gen- annual pro-capita income higher than eration of Investment Policies.” 24 July 2012. United Na- $12,476. In addition they have low public tions Conference on Trade and Development 13 May 2013 debt (see Figure 8) compared to the Euro
ESPI Report 47 27 January 2014
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Average Bulgaria 6,4 6,2 -5,5 0,4 1,7 1,84 Czech Republic 5,7 3,1 -4,7 2,7 1,7 1,70 Estonia 7,5 -3,7 -14,3 2,3 7,6 -0,12 Hungary 0,1 0,9 -6,8 1,3 1,7 -0,56 Latvia 10,0 -4,2 -0,3 5,5 5,5 3,3 Lithuania 9,8 2,9 -14,7 1,3 5,9 0,06 Poland 6,8 5,1 1,6 3,9 4,3 4,34 Romania 6,0 9,4 -8,5 0,9 -0,4 1,48 Slovakia 10,5 5,8 -4,9 4,2 3,3 3,78 Slovenia 6,9 3,6 -8,0 1,4 -0,2 0,74 Average 6,97 2,91 -6,55 2,39 3,11 1,76
Table 3: GDP growth (annual average in % for the period 2007-2011)58
Figure 6: GDP (Billion $) for 201159
58 Average calculated on the World Bank data. Resource Document: “GDP Growth (Annual %).” 2013. The World Bank 14 Apr. 2013
ESPI Report 47 28 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
Figure 7: Proportion in % of EU27 GDP60
Figure 8: Government debt, total (% of GDP)61
60 Ibid. 61 “Central Government Debt, total (% of GDP).” 2013. The World Bank 11 Jan. 2013
ESPI Report 47 29 January 2014
tion Council for Space Activities under its leadership. Also other ministries and public 2.2.2 Organisation of Space Activities in Recent entities participate in this Council in order to and Future ESA Member States ensure that their interests are reflected in Most of the recent and potential future ESA Czech Space Policy and activities: the Minis- try of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of member states have established an institu- tional framework for space activities. How- Education, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of ever, there are significant differences among Environment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the countries, ranging from very well estab- the Ministry of Defence, the Office of the Czech Government, and the Government lished agencies to a few dedicated offices 64 within a ministry. Another important factor in Commissioner for GSA. The Council works this context is the development of a national through three cross-sectional expert working space programme, which aims at strengthen- groups involving also industry and academia; ing the national space industry as well as one on “Industry and Applications” chaired by preparing companies and scientific institu- the Ministry of Industry and Trade, one on tions for space activities in the international “Science”, chaired by the Ministry of Educa- field. The process of institutionalisation tion, and one on “Security and International Relations”, chaired by the Ministry of Foreign seems to be proceeding in most cases hand 65 in hand with the process of involvement with Affairs. ESA. As a matter of fact, countries that have The Czech Space Office (CSO) and the Czech already joined ESA tend to have a much Space Alliance also play a substantive role in more institutionally entrenched framework for Czech space activities. CSO is a private non- space activities compared to ECS or countries profit organization financed by the Ministry of with a framework agreement. Space activities Education aimed at increasing Czech partici- in Latvia, Slovenia and Hungary are mainly pation in ESA programmes. It constitutes an entrusted to more recently established and information and advisory centre for space less entrenched structures, the exception activities, while providing administration and being Estonia with a highly sophisticated set- technical support to the Ministries66. By com- up. Most countries that have only signed parison, the Czech Space Alliance is an SME Cooperation Agreements with ESA (e.g. Slo- association of 16 companies established in vak Republic) have no specific institutional 2006, with the aim of helping its members framework and no specific national agency is win ESA industrial contracts. CSA has already foreseen for the time being. In these coun- proved to be beneficial for Czech industries. tries, only some offices within ministries are During the PECS programme, from 2005 to generally in charge of space activities and 2008, CSA members won 9 out of 12 indus- policies, and in all cases, the responsible trial contracts, and after their accession to ministry is the Ministry of Education. ESA, members of CSA won 16 out of 23 in- As of April 2011, when the Government en- dustry contracts in the Czech Industry Incen- tive scheme, and 10 out of 10 contracts in dorsed significant changes to Czech Space 67 governance, the Ministry of Transport has ESA´s call for tenders. coordinated space activities in the Czech Re- In Romania, space activities are co-ordinated public. The Ministry represents the Czech by the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA). The Republic at the EU Space Council and in ESA organisation was established in 1991 as an and deals with contributions to ESA pro- office in the Research Department under the grammes, as well as with European space Ministry of Research and Technology (cur- policy issues. This Ministry is also in charge of rently, the Ministry of Education, Research, participation in the EU Framework Pro- Youth and Sport) and then reorganised by a gramme for R&D, including the space theme Government decision in 1995 as an inde- 62 programme . In addition, the Ministry of pendent public institution with its own legal Transport is responsible for the implementa- personality and its own research centre. tion of GALILEO and for follow-up applications ROSA reports to the Minister of Education and of satellite systems, while the Ministry of Research and directly to the Prime Minister Environment represents the country in for specific items defined by the law. The EUMETSAT and is involved in COPERNICUS and in the Group on Earth Observation 64 63 “Czech Space Portal.” Coordination Council of the Minis- (GEO). ter of Transport for Space Activities. 29 Apr. 2013. In order to better coordinate all space activi-
ESPI Report 47 30 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
mission of ROSA is to promote, coordinate search and Development Institute for Land and develop space research and application Use) and the Institute of Space Science in programmes/projects in Romania, and, as a Bucharest. Since 2001, the RRC has been Government representative, to promote in- selected by the Ministry of Education and ternational cooperation in the space field. On Research as a Centre of Excellence in Space behalf of the Government, ROSA is the na- Applications. The fields of science and tech- tional representative in the cooperative nology knowledge developed by the RRC agreements with international organisations, are72: such as ESA and the Committee on Space • Space dynamics, in particular small sat- Research (COSPAR), as well as bilateral gov- ellites and tethered systems, magnetic ernmental agreements. Together with the fluids and magneto fluidic composites; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROSA represents • Space science Romania in the sessions of the UN COPUOS • Earth observation (remote sensing) sat- and its Subcommittees. Within the EU, ROSA ellite data retrieval, processing, algo- is the national representative in the European rithms and software development, appli- GNSS Agency and the Copernicus-GMES cations development; Committee, as well as FP7 Committees for • Space information systems integration Space, Security Research, Aeronautics and (including Global Navigation Satellite Galileo.68 Systems); The national space agency acts as project • Space technology for risk management integrator and developer in the main areas of and security. space research and technology: space sci- The expertise covers newly developed ad- ence, Earth Observation, GNSS, space dy- vanced technology in remote sensing (satel- namics, space applications for agriculture, lite and airborne), geographic information disaster management, space information systems (GIS), global positioning systems systems, and space infrastructure develop- (GPS), geomatics and area-frame techniques. ment69. The scope of ROSA activities is, how- The research in the RRC is project-oriented. ever, broader than just space, as the agency The overall objectives are to produce science also supervises aeronautics and security ac- and technology, to transfer the results to the tivities. After public tender, ROSA became the users and to generate physical and human contract authority for the National Aeronau- infrastructure (capacity building). tics and Space R&D Programme, co-financed by the state budget, and the contract author- In Poland, space activities are mainly en- ity for the National Security Programme. Its trusted to the Space Research Centre (SRC), involvement in security activities is reflected which falls directly under the Polish Academy by its participation in different security- of Sciences. The centre, established in 1977, related councils and committees. On the ba- is not just an administrative body, but is an sis of a decision by the Government, ROSA interdisciplinary research institute that acts provides the secretariat for the Inter- as a kind of national space agency by under- Ministerial Group for Security Research and taking space research and developing space the President of ROSA was appointed as the technologies and applications. 73. Its Executive President of this Group.70 branches are located in Warsaw, Wroclaw and Poznan and it currently has 150 employees. ROSA is composed of the Headquarters (ad- Different ministries, mainly the Ministry of ministrative, cooperation and programme Economy and Ministry of Science and Higher management divisions) and the ROSA Re- Education, share responsibility for Polish search Centre (RRC)71. The RRC was organ- space activities. While the latter supervises ised in 1998 as an entity represented legally research and R&D activities, the former is by ROSA which joined all research contracts responsible for the funding of the ESA pro- in a unique management structure. Another gramme and activities. Other involved Minis- step was the joint venture agreements con- tries are: the Ministry of Environment, which cluded with CRUTA – the Romanian Centre supervises GMES activities; the Ministry of for Remote Sensing Applications in Agricul- Transport which supervises Galileo activities; ture – an SME laboratory organized initially and the Ministry of National Defence, which is as an independent branch of the ISPIF (Re- responsible for the security aspects. In addition, the following consultative bodies 68 ROSA Information Document, “Romanian Space Agen- support the Government: cy. Space tools for a better life”. 69 ROSA Information Document, “Romanian Space Agen- cy. Space tools for a better life”. 70 “Romanian Space Agency – General Information.” 2013. 72 ROSA Information Document, “Romanian Space Romanian Space Agency 29 Apr. 2013 Agency. Space tools for a better life”.
ESPI Report 47 31 January 2014
• The Consultative Board for Space Policy national private and public sector organisa- set up in the Ministry of Economy in tions.78 2008 to implement Polish Space Policy at Additionally, in 2010 the Ministry of Economic national and international level and pro- Affairs and Communications established the vide overall political coordination. Estonian Space Affair Council (SAC), which is • The Committee on Space and Satellite responsible for the initiation and governance Research of the Academy of Sciences es- of space related actions and programs at tablished in 1966, which is in charge of national and international level, as well as defining national space research policy coordination of funding. Another relevant and coordinating the activities of the Pol- institution is the Estonian Space Policy Work- ish research centres involved in interna- ing Group (SPWG), created by the Ministry of tional space projects. It consists of scien- Education and Science in 2006, which is now tists from the various fields of space re- carrying out the tasks of an advisory body search and it is structured in five com- and acts as a think-tank on space matters79. missions: Astronautics and Space Compared to the above-mentioned countries, Technology, Remote Sensing, Satellite there is no specific institutional framework for Geodesy, Space Biology and Medicine space activities in Slovenia and no specific and Space Physics. national space agency is foreseen for the • The Task Force Poland ESA, aimed at re- time being.80 The Ministry of Economic De- inforcing the integration of Poland within velopment and Technology (MEDT) acts as ESA during the transitional period. 74. the national coordinator of space related ac- tivities and at the same time is also the ad- In the next few years, as recommended by ministrative unit in charge of implementing the 2009 Polish Space Strategy, a national the PECS Agreement. It also leads the Slove- space agency should be created in order to nian delegation to ESA and has overall re- coordinate and better harmonise all space sponsibility for Slovenian participation in dif- activities in Poland. As underlined by P. ferent ESA programmes and activities, includ- Manikovski, professor at the Poznan Univer- ing financial budgeting. In this role, the MEDT sity, “there are three possible models to conveys and safeguards the country’s politi- choose from: a small office (e.g. Hungary), a cal, institutional, legal, financial and industrial coordinating body (e.g. Romania), or an in- interests through its delegations in the rele- dependent Agency (e.g. France, Ger- vant ESA bodies.81 At national level, in Octo- many)”.75 In November 2013, Poland an- ber 2009 Slovenia allocated 10 M€ to the nounced its intention to set up a Polish Space Centre of Excellence Space.Si, a consortium Agency (POLSA) by the beginning of 2015. established in the same year and consisting Despite the fact that Estonia has a long tradi- of three universities, two Public Research tion in space studies, there was no specific Institutes, and six enterprises. The New Cen- institutional framework for space activities tre for Excellence has the main purpose of until June 2007 when, after the signature of enabling Slovenia to join ESA.82 the Cooperation Framework Agreement with ESA, Enterprise Estonia (EAS) – a public
business development and support agency 78 established by the Ministry of Economic Af- “Estonian Space Office.” 2013. Enterprise Estonia 29 Apr. 2013
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In Hungary, the Hungarian Space Office The agency implements state support (HSO) is the entity responsible for managing, programs for the development of entre- co-ordinating and representing national space preneurship that can be used by industry activities. Established in January 1992 as an to develop projects in the field of space independent government office under the technologies. responsibility of the Minister of Informatics In March 2010, the Space Working Group and Communications, HSO was integrated was established under the Ministry of Educa- into the Ministry in 2005 and then moved in tion and Science. It consists of 18 members August 2006 to the Ministry of Environment (representatives of ministries, the private and Water.83 Finally, in 2010, with the estab- sector and scientific institutions). The objec- lishment of the Ministry for National Devel- tives of the working group are to develop a opment, HSO became a department of this National Space Strategy; to promote and Ministry. implement the Cooperation Agreement be- The Minister for National Development is tween Latvia and ESA; to assure cooperation officially responsible for space activities in and dissemination of scientific and technical Hungary, assisted by the Hungarian Space information on space science, space technol- Board (HSB), which acts as an advisory ogy and its applications in support of com- board. The HSB consists “of representatives munication and coordinated action between from the ministries involved in space activi- research institutes, government and industry; ties and various experts from different space and to encourage the participation of re- research fields”. It supervises the planning of search institutions and commercial companies space activities and determines the corner- in the activities of the European Space stones of Hungarian space activities. While Agency and other R&D programmes 86. the HSB is the advisory body of the Ministry Latvian space governance has been develop- in charge of space affairs, the advisory body ing since December 2009, when the Ministry of HSO is the Scientific Council on Space Re- of Education and Science established the search (SCSR). The SCSR provides the scien- National Space Technology Development tific background of all Hungarian space activi- Working Group with representatives from ties and consists of experts from all fields of ministries, research entities and industry space research84. To date, research and ap- stakeholders. The main goals of the Working plication activities have been carried out in Group are: about 25 scientific institutes and university departments. Their personnel in space re- • To promote the implementation of the lated work number more than 250 scientists agreement between Latvia and ESA and engineers. • To assure cooperation and dissemination of scientific and technical information on In Latvia, the space sector is officially repre- space science, space technology and its sented by the Ministry of Education and Sci- applications in support of communication ence, which is in charge of space policy and and coordinated action between research facilitating multidisciplinary research. Other institutes, government and municipal in- involved ministries are:85 stitutions and industry. • The Ministry of Transport – in charge of • To encourage participation of research aviation and air transport policy, Galileo- institutions and commercial companies in related activities; ESA and other R&D programs87. • The Ministry of Defence Latvian territory In 2008, a feasibility study for space cluster defence mission assurance, scientific re- development was undertaken, involving 35 search, certain space-based products - companies, 4 NGOs, 12 educational & re- satellite pictures as a basis for derived search institutions and 6 public organisations. products (maps, analytical products, In 2009, Latvian companies and research etc.) institutions agreed to establish the Latvian • The Ministry of Economics - responsible Space technologies cluster, and 25 of them for business capacity building in the signed cooperation agreements for participat- space field ing in cluster activities. The activities of the • The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia – gathering information, identifying and supporting competitive companies in the Latvian space sector. 86 NordicBaltSat Space Directory 2011. Resource docu- ment: “Space Awareness Action Plan (SAAP).” 1 Nov. 83 European Space Agency. European Space Technology 2009. NordicBaltSat 29 Oct. 2013 Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 107.
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cluster are coordinated by the Ventspils High governmental research organisation, the Technology Park" (VHTP)88. Space Science and Technology Institute (SSTI), which is entrusted with space related Space activities in Lithuania date back to the scientific research, technology development 1950s, when many Lithuanian scientists and and its transfer to business organizations. engineers started to participate in Soviet SSTI cooperates with most Lithuanian Uni- space and military industrial programmes. versities and some space related business This notwithstanding, space activities have companies and thus constitutes a link be- received an institutional framework only in tween technology development and transfer recent years. Lithuania, however, still does for further commercial use. 92 Most of its not have any national space agency or space members already have experience in space activities-related institutions. In 2010 an technology and engineering and are involved, Inter-ministerial Space Working Group for example, in NATO and FP5, FP6, and FP7 (IMSWG) was established under the respon- projects. The Institute actively cooperates sibility of the Ministry of Economy. 89 This with several European Universities (NL, DK, Ministry is in charge of the development of D, and CH) and organizations performing Lithuanian space policy and the supervision space related activities. Lithuanian students of its implementation, while the Ministry of at all levels are widely involved in the scien- Education and Science is responsible for tific research work of the Institute, thus en- space-related R&D activities. In 2010, the hancing the preparation of high-level scien- two ministries established the Agency of Sci- tists and specialists in space and high-tech ence, Innovation and Technology (SITA), related fields.93 SSTI is involved in a project which, inter alia, is in charge of the imple- dealing with the development and integration mentation of the national space programmes. of small satellite components, such as a Finally, the Ministry of Transport and Com- nano-satellite, intended both for scientific munication represents Lithuania in EU GNSS tasks, technologies demonstrations, educa- governing and implementing bodies and will tional purposes and the popularization of be responsible for the use of the GNSS.90 science. The project aims to boost the devel- In 2007, several Lithuanian R&D institutions opment of new high tech based research and enterprises signed a co-operation capacities and industry in the Baltic area. agreement to establish the National Technol- In 2010, the Lithuanian Space Association ogy Platform of Space Technologies. The (LSA) organised the 1st International Confer- Lithuanian Space Association (LSA) was es- ence on “Space Economy in the Multipolar tablished in 2009. It is comprised of 11 uni- World”, SEMW 2010. It brought together versities, 11 enterprises in the field of engi- members of Government, industry and space neering and ICT and R&D institutions, which policy experts to discuss policy and economic are involved in national technology pro- and technology trends in this field. The con- grammes, and European FP7 projects91. In ference represented a milestone event for November 2010, the LSA founded a non- forthcoming Lithuanian space activities, and the kick-off event for the implementation of 88 The VHTP was established in 2005 with the aim of the first Lithuanian space research pro- creating favourable environment for high technology com- gramme94. Given the success of the first con- panies specialising in electronics, ICT, machine engineer- nd rd ing, industrial automation and space technologies. The ference, LSA organised the 2 and 3 SEMW VHTP has several structural units: a) Business Incubator Conferences in 2011 and 2012, respectively. that provides infrastructure and support services for com- panies in their early stage of activity. This structural unit In the Slovak Republic, space activities fall also provides services of pre-incubator for prospective under the responsibility of the Ministry of entrepreneurs. b) Service Department of the Technology Education, Science, Research and Sport. In Park that provides infrastructure and support services for 2008, an expert committee was established companies in their after-incubation or expansion stage, with the aim of managing the concept and and also for research and educational centres. c) Devel- 95 opment and Marketing Department, the main objectives of the process of Slovak cooperation with ESA. which are the development and implementation of VHTP This committee consists of representatives projects, marketing and public relations, as well as the from: coordination of activities of the Latvian Space Technology Cluster. Resource Document: “About Us.” 2013. Ventspils High Technology Park 2 May 2013
ESPI Report 47 34 January 2014 ESA Enlargement
• Different ministries in the Slovak Repub- clearly identified the range of priorities they lic (Ministry of Education, Ministry of want to focus on. Taking into consideration Transport, Post and Telecommunications, the size of their economies, they generally do Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Econ- not aim at having a huge space programme omy, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of in the near term: they concentrate their lim- Foreign Affairs); ited resources on a few fields or follow a • The Slovak Academy of Sciences, which niche strategy by putting emphasis on activi- plays a leading role among the scientific ties with high economic efficiency. An impor- institutions; tant priority is participation in international • The Government Office of the Slovak Re- space programmes that would bring recogni- public; tion of their expertise vis-à-vis international • The Slovak Rector’s Conference; partners. • The Slovak Industry Association and the The Czech Republic’s space strategy is con- Association of Industrial R&D organisa- tained in the National Space Plan elaborated tions. in 2010 by the different ministries involved in In addition to the institutional framework, an space affairs and with the support of ESA. It important role is played by the Slovak Or- offers an analytic view of Czech space activi- ganization for Space Activities (SOSA). SOSA ties, provides the basis for the decision mak- is a non-governmental organization estab- ing process and defines the national objec- lished in 2009, whose main purposes are the tives of Czech Space activities. Those are promotion and popularization of space re- divided into mid-term objectives to be search in the Slovak Republic, support for the achieved by 2016 and a long-term vision.98 accession of the Slovak Republic to ESA and The long-term vision aims at ensuring that ESO and the creation of a network of contacts the Czech Republic: a) has an international among Slovak high schools and universities, image of industrial and scientific excellence; scientific institutions and industrial companies b) is a high value-added economy, c) is com- with the interest and potential to act in the petitive and innovative, d) is capable of ab- field of space research and business96. SOSA sorbing and retaining the intellectual capital it is very active in the educational field and, creates, e) is an example of virtuous com- beyond the organisation of public talks and plementarity and cooperation between its workshops to increase general awareness of industrial and academic actors, and f) is an the importance of space research and indus- expert user of space resources and infra- try in Slovakia, it has identified several appli- structure in operational products and services cable education projects (CanSat, (EO, Navigation, etc). 99 Rexus/Bexus, CubeSats, ESEO, ESMO, To ensure the accomplishment of the long- GENSO, Drop ESA /Spin/Fly your thesis) to term vision the Plan states that the following encourage the participation of Slovakian stu- mid-term objectives must be achieved by dents97. 2016: a) Czech investment in space has an appropriate return, b) the Czech Republic has 2.2.3 National Policies the necessary competences (industrial, aca- demic, project management) and infrastruc- National Space Strategy tures to sustain the long-term vision, c) In- teraction between academia and industry Space activities in all recent and potential exists and is well balanced, d) The Czech future ESA member states are undertaken Republic has efficient and effective space according to different rationales and priori- coordination and recognizes space as a stra- ties. Yet, there are also broad common ra- tegic element of national policy100. tionales such as the development of the na- tional economy, industry and scientific insti- ESA is seen as the main implementation tool tutions, the reinforcement of technological to achieve the long-term vision, and for this skills, further integration in Europe and the reason space activities must first include con- European market, and the will to exploit the tributions to ESA mandatory and optional societal benefits deriving from space applica- programmes (especially in the fields of space tions. exploration, space technology, navigation and Earth observation). Other main directions of Apart from the recent ESA member states, Czech space activities include participation in the majority of aspiring countries have not yet fully implemented a specific and robust 98 “National Space Plan. Summary.” 2 June 2012. Czech space policy. All of them, however, have Republic Ministry of Transport 29 Oct. 2013
ESPI Report 47 35 January 2014
the EUMETSAT programme; space applica- • Participation in ESA’s optional pro- tions development activities in several sec- grammes - in the field of Science tors (transport, industry, environment, re- /Robotic Exploration; Earth Observation source management); and space related sci- (including GMES); Telecommunication entific research at universities and institutes and Space Applications; Navigation of the Czech Academy of Science. (GNSS and Galileo); Human Space Flight; Launchers; Space Situational Romanian space strategy has had three con- Awareness –SSA; stant objectives since the 1990’s: 1) partici- • Development and operation of micro- pation in regional and international space satellite missions missions and programmes – in particular • Development of technologies, systems, ESA; 2) The development of specific national sensors and equipment for space, aero- programmes101; 3) Capacity building at na- nautics, security and related domains. tional level, development of industry, devel- opment of technological niches and the sale One of the main national priorities for Poland of national specificity capabilities, and im- is participation in international space pro- provement of national and regional security. grammes, as it would enable Poland to de- velop its industry by joining international These three objectives have been achieved, consortia and compensate for possible na- since Romania became the 19th ESA member tional funding problems. Given the difficulties state and has a presence in the international in national funding, Poland concentrates its space framework; niches such as nano- limited resources on a few fields. The three satellite technologies, advanced data tech- axes of the national space policy are: nologies, integrated space applications were developed; Romanian industry succeeded in • Space Science, which is the most devel- participating in ESA programs as third party oped field of the Polish space sector. The contractors (i.e. mechanical and electrical strategy is to concentrate research ef- components and tools for Ariane); centres of forts on fundamental physics, astrophys- competence such as the Institute of Space ics and Solar system exploration; Science, CRUTA, ROSA RC, university, indus- • Space applications. Both Galileo and try and SME research centres, as well as con- GMES-Copernicus related applications sortia of actors from institutes, academia and are considered national priorities. Poland industry were established, and human re- is involved in several ESA programmes in sources building – diplomas, masters and the field of Satellite Navigation and Earth PhD courses in space-related items in several Observation and will be involved in the universities – were realised.102 development of integrated applications combining Satnav, SatCom and EO. Re- The Romanian space and security programme search activities are supported by a net- focuses on five main pillars: space explora- work of specialised institutes and SMEs; tion, space applications, space and aerospace • Space technology. The development of technology infrastructure, security-related national technological expertise was a technology, security systems and infrastruc- primary motivation for joining ESA as a ture. After accession to the ESA Convention, member state. Poland plans to increase the Programme for Research-Development its involvement in space technologies by and Innovation on Space Technology and participating in the development of space Advanced Research (STAR) became the main manipulators and planetary vehicles. It instrument to provide national support for the also aims to develop critical European implementation of activities between Roma- technologies such as processors, com- nia and ESA. The programme was approved posite materials and launcher technolo- in 2011 and covers the period from 2012 to gies. 104 2019.103 There are 3 main specific objectives of the STAR Programme: At the end of 2010, a “Programme of Action for the Development of Space Technologies and the Use of Satellite System in Poland” was published by the Ministry of Economy 101 The five pillars of the national programme are Science, and finally approved by the Council of Minis- Technology, Enterprise, capacity Building and Security. ters in June 2012. Poland’s strategy aims to Resource Document: European Space Agency. European achieve four main objectives: Space Technology Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 129-130. • Consistency with EU policy in space re- 102 Piso, Marius-Ioan. “Space Activities towards a Sustain- lated fields; able Development: Case Romania.” Presentation. 14th EISC Conference 2012 – Thematic Workshop. Krakow, Poland. 13-15 May 2012. the Applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems. 103 Piso, Marius-Ioan. “GNSS Concept in the Framework of Riga, Latvia. 14-18 May 2012. the Romanian R&D Programmes ‘Space and Security’ and 104 Cit., European Space Agency. European Space Tech- ‘STAR’.” Presentation. United Nations/Latvia Workshop on nology Master Plan 2011. Paris: ESA, 2011: 123.
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• Achieving Poland’s potential in terms of the surveillance of Schengen borders; or de- its place among EU countries in the re- velop systems to monitor ports and ships. search and exploitation of space; In Slovenia, a national space strategy was • Using satellite systems to benefit society scheduled for 2012/2013. It can be assumed and improve public services; that it will not aim to have a huge space pro- • Supporting Polish companies operating in gramme in the near term. The focus will be the international space technology mar- mainly on applications using space infrastruc- ket. 105 ture, and on actively developing competences The last ESA Ministerial Council in November in niche technologies, products and services. 2012 showed that Poland is focusing on ap- The majority of activities will be linked to ESA plications and technology development. While and the EU space industry. Slovenia is al- its proportional contribution to optional pro- ready following a niche strategy by putting grammes in the field of Earth observation, emphasis on the following market opportuni- navigation, and satellite technology is well ties: above the average of the remaining ESA • Developing good relations with large member states, Poland is investing little space industry in order to become a money in ISS and space exploration and privileged subcontractor; nothing in the area of launchers. Another • Finding and exploiting niche areas with focus seems to be on SSA, where the propor- sufficient S&T potential; tional contribution is also above the ESA av- • Positioning itself as an important con- erage, similar to Romania. tributor of niche products and services; In Estonia, one of the first steps in the for- • Strengthening skills on the applications mulation of a coherent space policy was the side; publication of the document “Toward an Es- • Developing new technologies for user- tonian Space Policy and Strategy”106. This funded applications in the field of EO, document lists a number of strategic objec- satellite navigation and telecommunica- tives for the Estonian Space Policy: tion108. • Develop the potential for economic For Hungary, participation in European and growth from space related activities by ESA programmes is one of the main priori- facilitating a competitive business envi- ties, since in the last few years the Hungarian ronment; government has cut off expenditure for na- • Deliver public services in partnership tional programmes109. Current collaboration with public institutions, private sector with ESA is in the fields of Earth Observation, and academia to exploit the technologies Science, Human Spaceflight and GSTP Pro- and activities of space; grammes. National activities are focused on • Deliver world-class science by developing two main areas: the development of space- local space activities and exploiting in- based applications to contribute to the eco- ternational expertise; nomic development of Hungary and pro- • Cooperation with ESA and other national grammes that provide an opportunity to de- space agencies, and participation in velop Hungarian equipment for space mis- European initiatives (Galileo, GMES). sions. For example, the country contributed to the instruments for the Rosetta, Venus In 2011 the government eventually approved Express, Cassini-Huygens, and BepiColombo the first national Strategy for Estonian Space missions.110 The development of a fully Hun- Affairs 2011-2013, which further defines the garian satellite was also a medium-term ob- national objectives in space. The main strate- jective, eventually realised in 2012 when a gic objectives are the implementation of cubesat, named Masat-1, was successfully space applications and the development of launched as a piggy-bag payload on the Estonian high tech industry and science.107 maiden flight of Vega.111 Considering the size of its economy, Estonian policy-makers will probably identify niches in Latvia does not currently have a space policy, which the country could develop space- but concrete actions for the development of a related activities. For instance, because of its national space strategy are contained in the location, Estonia could play a crucial role in Guidelines for Development of Science and Technologies 2009-2013, approved by the
105 Cit., Manikowski, Piotr. “Developments in Space Activi- ties in Poland”. Space Policy 29.1 (2013): 35-39. 106 “Towards an Estonian Space Policy & Strategy.” July 2008. Enterprise Estonia 30 Apr. 2013 108 Ibid.: 131-132
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Cabinet of Ministers on September 2009112. activities as well as into European space In this context, the strategic goals of Latvia programmes; are: • To promote efficient use of products and services based on space technologies and • To concentrate and enhance competi- on data from space in the public sector, tiveness of existing space-related re- business and society. search and industrial potential: a) to educate local specialists; make use of The Slovak Republic has not yet elaborated a existing researchers with experience in space policy, but has identified its priorities in space-related programmes, and attract Telecommunications and Navigation, which high level EU professionals; b) to imple- are seen as the best opportunities for return ment space-related industry support ac- on investment. Maintenance and develop- tions enhancing development of space ment of knowledge and skills already gained technology platforms; in space weather, life sciences and astron- • To consolidate new international coop- omy/astrophysics are also relevant.116 eration projects and foster fundamental Given the size of its economy, participation in end applied research and development European and ESA programmes is one of the activities with high economic efficiency; main priorities. Slovak organisations have • To enter the international space commu- already been involved in ESA activities nity as a recognised partner and to join through other ESA member states' participa- ESA as a Member State; tion. The Slovak Institute of Experimental • To become one of the leading space Physics, for example, has worked on Rosetta, technology centres in the Eastern Euro- BepiColombo, Venus Express and Double Star pean Region113. with the National University of Ireland. Cur- The formulation of new Guidelines for 2014- rently, there are over 30 firms that have 2018 for space and technology research is shown interest in many ESA Technology Do- now under development.114 mains (especially Space System Software, Spacecraft electrical Power, Automation & In Lithuania, the first guiding document re- Robotics, and Mechanisms & Tribology)117. lated to the country’s space activity “Devel- opment of Research, Technologies and Inno- vation in the Space Sector” was issued in May R&D Expenditures and Investments in Space 2010 by a Government Resolution. The Reso- Activities lution delegated to the Ministry of Economy The financial framework for R&D and space the responsibility to approve the “National activities in recent and possible future ESA Programme on Development of Research, member states shows wide disparities among Technologies and Innovation in the Space the different countries, both in absolute and Sector for 2010 – 2015” and to draft and relative terms. A comparison of the Govern- approve the Action Plan for implementation. ment Budget Appropriations or Outlays on 115 The main objectives are: Research and Development (GBAORD) – • To create a favourable environment for which represents the funds allocated to R&D the consolidation and development of the in central government or federal budgets and space sector in Lithuania; therefore means budget provisions, not ac- • To initiate and develop cooperation with tual expenditure – is provided in Table 4. the ESA with the aim of joining this in- ternational organization; • To encourage integration of Lithuanian business and science potential into ESA
112 NordicBaltSat Space Directory 2011. Resource docu- ment: “Space Awareness Action Plan (SAAP).” 1 Nov. 2009. NordicBaltSat 29 Oct. 2013
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GBOARD % of GDP % for space activities Czech Republic 894 0,6% 1,7% Estonia 102 0,8% 3,6% Hungary 469 0,5% 0,5% Latvia 41 0,2% 1,4% Lithuania 234 0,6% 0,2% Poland 1052 0,4% 1,6% Romania 353 0,4% 1,0% Slovak Republic 198 0,3% 0,4% Slovenia 265 0,8% 0,4%
Table 4: GBOARD of recent/future ESA member states for 2010 in million EUR118
A comparison of total R&D expenditure and tional, ESA or other international pro- R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as a per- grammes. centage of GDP) in recent and possible future The budget for space activities in the Czech ESA member states is shown in Table 5. Republic has consistently increased in the last few years, moving from €7,4 million in 2008 GERD % of GDP to €19 million in 2012, as presented in Figure 9. It also shows that while budgets for na- Czech Republic 2335 1,5% tional activities remained stable, budgets for Estonia 232 1,6% ESA programmes increased fivefold (since accession to the Agency). The annual ESA Hungary 1126 1,3% budget of around 10 Million Euro is a reason- Latvia 109 0,6% able commitment split into around € 5,4 mil- lion for the ESA mandatory budget and the Lithuania 219 0,75% rest for 13 optional programmes. Also the Poland 2608 0,75% budget for other international programmes (including EUMETSAT), quadrupled passing Romania 573 0,4% from €0,9 million in 2008 to €4,5 million in Poland 2608 0,75% 2012. The overall budget for 2013 is ex- pected to rise to €23,1 million Euro. Slovak Republic 416 0,6% The Romanian budget for space activities has Slovenia 746 2,1% consistently increased in the last few years, passing from €19 Million in 2007 to €30 mil- Table 5: R&D expenditure in mission EUR and R&D inten- 120 sity119 lion in 2011, as shown in Figure 10. As an ECS, Romania was under the obligation This means that the average R&D expendi- to pay a contribution of at least 1 million ture of these CEE countries for 2010 repre- euros per year. Nevertheless, Romania com- sented only 1,06% of their GDP (according to mitted to pay a contribution of 10 million the figures in Table 5). With the exception of euros over the five year period. Since Roma- Slovenia, the countries have a very small nia became a full ESA member in December expenditure on R&D, which is approximately 2011 and therefore has to pay a mandatory half of the EU 27 average level of 2,0% and contribution for the general budget and the is also far short of the target of 3% set by scientific programme, it is expected that its the Lisbon Treaty. space expenditure will increase significantly over the next few years, reaching around With regard to the space sector, expenditures €15-20 million per year.121 are very limited and in fact lower than those of other EU and ESA Member States. The following tables and figures represent the total national budget for space through na- 120 Cfr., Piso, Marius-Ioan. “Space Activities towards a Sustainable Development: Case Romania.” Presentation. 14th EISC Conference 2012 – Thematic Workshop. Kra- 118 Eurostat. Science, Technology and Innovation in kow, Poland. 13-15 May 2012. Europe. 2012 Edition. Luxembourg: Eurostat, 2012. 121 Euroconsult. “Profiles of Government Space Programs. 119 Ibid. Analysis of 60 countries and Agencies”, Paris, 2012.
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Figure 9: Czech Republic, expenditures on space activities (in Million Euro)122
Figure 10: Romanian expenditure on space activities (in Million Euro)123
122 European Space Agency. European Space Technology Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 86. 123 Ibid.: 130.
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In Poland, similar to the previous examples of €8, 2 million in 2008 to €39 million in 2013, the other two recent member states, the (as shown in Figure 11), showing the increas- budget for space activities has consistently ing importance of the space sector in Poland. increased in the last few years, passing from
Figure 11: Polish expenditures on space activities (in Million Euro)124
The Chart shows that while the national Without considering the absolute numbers, budget did not change over the years, the which show that the amount of investment is budget for ESA had a very strong increase low, especially if compared to the previous (from €1,2 million in 2008 to €29 million in examples of recent ESA member states, 2013). It has to be underlined, however, that there has been a remarkable increase in the a significant part of national space projects is ESA budget, showing the importance that this financed through Polish participation in the country attributes to future membership. It is European FP7 programme.125. Since Poland’s expected that both the national and the ESA GDP is now one of the fastest growing within budget will significantly increase in the next the EU, and considering that accession to ESA few years. involves participation based on national GDP, Figure 13 shows the budget of Slovenia for it can be expected that the accession of Po- space activities, especially the budget dedi- land (which took place in November 2012) cated to the national programme. Despite the will soon boost the Polish space budget, fact that the budget for space-related activi- bringing its contribution to ESA mandatory ties has slightly increased, it can be expected activities in the range of €12 million euro per that Slovenia will focus on specific niche ar- year, with potential additional contributions eas, considering the relative small amount of to optional programmes126, which could bring money it has provided in absolute terms. the future Polish ESA budget to €25-30 Mil- lion. The Estonian budget for space activities has not substantially increased in the last few years, moving from 2,13 million Euro in 2008 to 2,9 million in 2012, as shown in Figure 12.
124 European Space Agency. European Space Technology Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 126. 125 Euroconsult. “Profiles of Government Space Programs. Analysis of 60 countries and Agencies”, Paris, 2012: 256 126 Ibid.
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Figure 12: Estonian expenditures on space activities (in Million Euro)
Figure 13: Slovenian expenditure on space activities (in Million Euro)128
127 European Space Agency. European Space Technology Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 91. 128 European Space Agency. European Space Technology Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 133.
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Figure 14 shows the Hungarian budget for gramme) and the contribution to other inter- space related activities. As can be observed, national organisations, such as EUMETSAT, while the contribution to ESA is stable (be- has slightly increased, expenditure for na- cause of the commitment to the PECS pro- tional space activities has been discontinued.
Figure 14: Hungarian expenditure on space activities (in Million Euro)129
2.2.4 Space Capabilities and Expertise The Czech Republic’s focus in the field of space activities lies in astronomy, construc- The range of capabilities and expertise of tion of scientific instruments and micro- recent and aspiring ESA member states is satellites, components (optics, electronics, very wide, taking into consideration their past micro-accelerometers, and composite parts), participation in the Soviet Intercosmos Pro- hardware test facilities, software for ground gramme and participation in space missions segment and satellite operations, remote with other international partners. The follow- sensing applications and navigation applica- ing Chapter provides a brief overview of the tions.130 Most SMEs in the Czech Republic capabilities and interests of these countries in dealing with space are flexible and innovative the field of space. It does not include a de- and have a good space technology back- tailed description of national companies and ground. Nevertheless, this space background scientific institutions. Nevertheless, the fol- was not commercial and due to the closed lowing examples demonstrate that recent and totalitarian system in the past experience of a aspiring ESA member states show a re- market economy is often missing. Further- markably high level of interest in space sci- more, only minimal finances are available in ence, while the majority of them have a the Czech Republic to support these space longer history of expertise in this sector due companies. to their participation in the Intercosmos pro- gramme. Furthermore, most of these coun- tries show great interest in navigation and remote sensing applications. It is noteworthy that many of them are also involved in the production/manufacturing of components and software products related to space technol- ogy.
130 Mathieu, Charlotte. “Space in Central and Eastern Europe. Opportunities and Challenges for the European 129 European Space Agency. European Space Technology Space Endeavour. Addendum Exploratory Study on Esto- Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 108. nia and Slovenia.” ESPI Report 8 Oct. 2007: 37.
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Czech Republic Czech Republic Romania Poland Estonia Slovenia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Slovak Republic
Space science (e.g. astronomy, X X X X X X X astrophysics, solar system exploration)
Earth observation (e.g. environmental X X X X X X X X monitoring, meteo- rology, geodesy)
Space technology X X X X X X X X X
Ground segment engineering and X utilization
Telecommunication and navigation X X X X X X (service demonstrations)
Life and physical sciences (e.g. space X X X X biology and medicine, material processing)
The key sectors of Romanian space activities number of EU FP7 projects (e.g. the SWEX/R are space science (space physics and astron- project)132. omy), space systems (construction of nano- The main sectors of Estonian space activities satellites, microgravity experiments), security focus on astrophysics and space applications applications and space applications (tele- for remote sensing (mainly for atmosphere, medicine and earth observation data process- forests, agriculture and water bodies moni- ing for disaster management, land use and toring),133 atmospheric research and ocean- cover agriculture, GNSS and location-based ography. Estonia also has applied research in services).131. the fields of radiometry, optical (including In Poland, space activities are mostly concen- laser) instrumentation and information tech- trated on space science and space science nology. According to the document “Toward instrumentation (astronomy, planetology, an Estonian Space Strategy”, Estonia should interstellar physics, space weather – plasma not fund launchers, nor participate in human physics), navigation applications (geodesy), spaceflight programmes. By optimising public remote sensing and its applications (space resources, making full use of current (scien- and ground-based instrumentation for earth tific, business) competence and the prospec- observation, remote sensing applications). tive programmes of ESA and the EU, Estonia Both satellite navigation and Earth observa- should focus systematically on four areas of tion are considered as national priorities and research, development and innovation: Earth Poland participates in Galileo and Copernicus. Observation, Satellite Communication, Navi- In terms of Galileo, the country focuses on gation & Positioning, and Space Science & the development of the ground segment and Exploration.134 on the development of integrated applications (combining SatNav, SatCom and EO). With regard to Copernicus, Poland participates in a 132 Euroconsult. “Profiles of Government Space Programs. Analysis of 60 countries and Agencies”, Paris, 2012: 235 133 European Space Agency. European Space Technology Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 89-91. 131 European Space Agency. European Space Technology 134 “Towards an Estonian Space Policy & Strategy.” July Master Plan 2012. Paris: ESA, 2012: 130. 2008. Enterprise Estonia 15 May 2013
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The most important space-related core com- source and agriculture utilisation through petences of Slovenian industry are remote space assets138. sensing applications, high precision manufac- Space science is the most advanced part of turing and communications. Therefore, it can Slovak space activities, especially in the ar- be expected that the main sectors in which eas of space weather, life sciences, astron- Slovenia will continue to invest are: Coperni- omy and astrophysics (solar system and solar cus as well as satellite navigation and tele- physics).139 Slovak organisations have al- communications related applications, tech- ready been involved in ESA activities through nologies for micro- and nano-satellites and ESA member states' participation. Among the electro-optical data transmission and meas- scientific stakeholders, the most important urement systems.135 The focus of the previ- institution in terms of involvement in space ously mentioned Space.Si consortium is research is the Slovak Academy of Science mainly oriented to nano- and micro-satellite (SAS) and its Institutes of Astronomy, Geog- technologies that enable high precision inter- raphy, Experimental Physics, Experimental active remote sensing and precise manoeu- Endocrinology, Materials and Machine Me- vring of satellites. chanics. Several universities have partici- Hungarian space activities include: Earth pated in international projects (Mars Odyssey observation and its applications (mainly land (NASA), XMM Newton (ESA), GMES (EU)). cover mapping, space geodesy, geophysics With regard to industrial stakeholders, Slova- and meteorology), space physics (including kia has a few experienced companies rele- astronomy, planetology, cosmic materials), vant to space (e.g. Siemens PSE, ZTS VVU, Life sciences (biophysics, microbiology and and Q-products), but with limited or no space aerospace medicine), space technology (es- contracts so far. No specific “Interest Group” pecially concerning on-board instruments, dedicated to space industry currently exists, materials sciences and telecommunica- but more than 30 companies have shown tions).136 In the last decade, the Hungarian interest in various technology domains of ESA aerospace industry has seen remarkable (especially space system software, spacecraft growth thanks to the establishment of the electrical power engineering, automation & Hungarian Aerospace Cluster (HAC) in 2006 robotics, mechanisms & tribology)140. and the Hungarian Aerospace Technology Platform (HATP) in 2007, which brought to- gether over 40 high-tech companies and 2.2.5 Legal Framework and International Coop- 2500 employees and speeded up the devel- eration 137 opment of the national industry. None of the recent and future ESA member Latvia has been strong in the areas of hard- states have specific national space-related ware development and material development laws. Concerning the international legal and has longstanding experience in astron- framework, with the exception of the Baltic omy and space science. Several institutions countries, all other states have ratified the and private companies are potential partners major international agreements relating to for ESA activities and the Latvian State Insti- activities in outer space. tute of Wood Chemistry is already working Table 6 summarizes the status of the main with EADS Astrium to develop internal and international agreement ratifications as at 1 external cryogenic insulation materials and January 2012.141 technologies. Furthermore, most countries have recently Lithuania is mainly focused on engineering become members of the main international and ICT, material science technology, life institutions related to space (as shown in science and biotechnologies, and natural re- Table 7).
138 Tomkus, Vidmantas. “Opportunities and Challenges for Non-member states.” Presentation. ESA Enlargement
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OST ARRA LIAB REG MOON NTB Czech Republic R R R R - R Romania R R R - S R Poland R R R R - R Estonia R - - - - Slovenia - R R - - R Hungary R R R R - R Latvia ------Lithuania ------Slovak Republic R R R R - R
Table 6: Ratification of International Agreements by recent/future ESA member states142
EUTELSAT EUMETSAT ITU EURISY IAF Czech Republic R R R Full Member Member Romania R R R Full Member Member Poland R R R Full Member Member Estonia - - R Full member Member Slovenia R R R - Member Hungary R R R Full Member Member Latvia R R R - Member Lithuania R - R Associate - Member Slovak Republic R R R - Member
Table 7: Status of memberships in international organisations
The milestones of the cooperation with ESA PECS Charter.145 Under the PECS agreement, and the current status of their relations with 22 projects were performed, with a participa- the Agency are described hereafter. tion breakdown presented in Figure 15. Czech Republic In 1996, the Czech Government signed a first level Cooperation Agreement with ESA143. It then joined the ESA PRODEX in June 2000 and gained ECS Status in 2003 (24 Novem- ber)144 One year after this event (24 Novem- ber 2004), the Czech Republic signed the
142 Acronym explanations. OST (Outer Space Treaty); ARRA (Rescue Agreement); LIAB (Liability Convention); REG (Registration Convention); MOON (Moon Agree- ment); NTB (Nuclear Test Ban Treaty); R (ratified); S (signed). 143 “Czech Republic Accedes to the ESA Convention.” 8 July 2008. European Space Agency 30 Apr. 2013
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Figure 15: Breakdown of the Czech Republic’s PECS activities per field146
The formal request to accede to the ESA Convention was submitted in January 2007 and the negotiations started in June of the same year. The Accession Agreement was signed in July 2008147 and the Czech Republic formally became the 18Th ESA Member in November 2008.148 Romania Relations between Romania and ESA started in the early 1990s: in 1992 a first level Coop- eration Agreement with ESA was signed.149 Seven years later, in 1999, the agreement was renewed. In 2006 (17 February) Roma- nia signed the ECS Agreement150 and then Figure 16: Breakdown of Romanian PECS activities per joined the PECS Programme in 2007. The field152 PECS Charter was signed on 16 February 2007. 151 Eight different projects have been Following a period of negotiations with ESA, performed under PECS on 20 January 2011 the Accession Agreement to the ESA Convention was signed153, and on 22 December 2011 Romania formally became the 19th member of ESA.154. After accession 146 Adaptation from PECS website: “Czech Republic. Plan to the ESA Convention, the STAR programme for European Cooperating States (PECS).” 7 Dec. 2009. (see Paragraph 2.3.1) became the main in- European Space Agency 13 May 2013
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Poland Estonia Poland’s cooperation with ESA dates back to The first contacts with ESA were established the 1980s. The first formal milestone in rela- in 2005, following Estonian EU membership. tions between ESA and Poland was in January On 20 June 2007, the Ministry of Economic 1994, when the first level Cooperation Affairs and Communications signed a Coop- Agreement between the Polish Government eration Framework Agreement with the and the Agency was endorsed. 155 The agree- Agency.159 In 2009, Estonia took a step fur- ment was then renewed on 24 January 2002. ther in its relations with ESA by obtaining With this second Cooperation Agreement, the ECS Status. The agreement was signed on 10 scope of cooperation was extended. Following November 2009.160 It was followed by the the signature of an ECS Agreement on 27 signature of the PECS Charter on 22 Septem- April 2007156, Poland obtained ECS status. ber 2010. ESA and Enterprise Estonia identi- The PECS Charter was signed on 28 April fied 12 Estonian PECS projects in the field of 2008157 and enabled Poland to participate in Space Science; Earth Observation; Human almost all ESA programmes and activities (47 Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration; projects with a total budget of 11 Million Satellite Communication; Space Technology; Euro). Education. The participation breakdown is In July of the same year, accession negotia- illustrated in Figure 18. tions between the Polish government and ESA started and finished in April 2012. On 13 Slovenia September 2012, the Accession Agreement was signed, and on 19 November 2012 Po- Slovenia’s relations with ESA started quite land officially became a Member of ESA, par- recently. The first Cooperation Agreement 161 ticipating at the Ministerial Council of Novem- was signed in May 2008. On 25 January 162 ber 2012 as the 20th ESA full Member 2010, Slovenia obtained ECS Status, which State.158 was followed, some months later by the en- dorsement of the PECS Charter (30 Novem- ber 2010). The Slovenian contribution to the 5 years PECS programme amounts to about €6,25 Million. Currently, there are 10 ongoing pro- jects in the field of Space Science; Earth Ob- servation; Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration; Telecommunication; Indus- trial policy; Advance Concept Study; Educa- tion. The participation breakdown is illus- trated in Figure 19.
155 “ESA/Poland Cooperation Agreement.” 28 Jan. 1994. 159 “Estonia Signs Cooperation Agreement with ESA.” 26 European Space Agency 30 Apr. 2013 June 2007. European Space Agency 30 Apr. 2013
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Figure 17: Breakdown of Polish PECS activities per field163
Figure 18: Breakdown of Estonian PECS activities per field164
Figure 19: Breakdown of Slovenian PECS activities per field165
163 Adaptation from PECS website: “Poland. Plan for European Cooperating States (PECS).” 26 Jan. 2010. European Space Agency 13 May 2013
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Figure 20: Breakdown of Hungarian PECS activities per field166
Hungary for Economics discussed in more detail the different types of cooperation with ESA. Hungarian relations with ESA started as early Eventually, Latvia became the second Baltic as 1991, when the country signed a first level country to sign a Cooperation Agreement Cooperation Framework Agreement (10 April with ESA. 1991). Hungary was the first non-ESA mem- ber state (and Eastern European country) to In 2010, Latvia started to prepare for the join PRODEX167. The total contribution of PECS programme. Therefore, in March the Hungary to PRODEX from 1997 to 2002 was ESA institutional audit took place, in which 11 €3,45 million. On 10 April 2003, Hungary scientific institutions, 1 Technology Park and obtained ECS Status and some months later 13 companies participated. Following the ESA the country left the PRODEX programme to evaluation and recommendations in October join PECS. The PECS Charter was signed in 2010, several potential PECS projects were November 2003 and 37 projects in the field identified168: of Space Science, Life and Material Science, The ECS Agreement was signed on 19 March Space Technology and Earth Observation 2013. As next steps, ESA and Latvia will have were undertaken (as shown in Figure 20). to complete a list of projects that will be pre- In 2006, Hungary was granted the status of sented for approval to the relevant ESA observer in the International Relations Com- Committees and Programme Boards. Fur- mittee. In the same year, the country in- thermore, Latvian organisations will be formed ESA about its intention to become a briefed and receive training by ESA represen- Member of the Agency. Accession negotia- tatives169. The potential timeframe for future tions started the following year, but in No- cooperation of Latvia with ESA includes the vember 2008 Hungary decided to go ahead signing of the PECS Agreement in 2013 and with an extension of its participation in PECS the implementation of PECS projects in the for another 5 years. period 2013-2018. Latvia Lithuania The first official contacts between ESA and Lithuania was the last of the Baltic countries Latvia started in March 2004, when an ESA to sign a Cooperation Agreement with ESA, delegation first visited Riga to meet several on 7 October 2010 in Vilnius.170 The Agree- space organisations working in the navigation field. In February 2005, the Latvian Minister 168 NordicBaltSat Space Directory 2011. Resource docu- ment: “Space Awareness Action Plan (SAAP).” 1 Nov. 166 Adaptation from PECS website: “Hungary. Plan for 2009. NordicBaltSat 29 Oct. 2013 European Cooperating States.” 4 Sept. 2012. European
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ment guarantees scientific, technical and Slovak organisations have already been in- organisational assistance from ESA with no volved in ESA activities via ESA member financial obligations. Within the framework of states' participation. The Slovak Institute of this cooperation, Lithuanian scientists and Experimental Physics, for example, has industry representatives are becoming ac- worked on Rosetta, BepiColombo, Venus Ex- quainted with the standardisation and certifi- press and Double Star with the National Uni- cation requirements imposed by ESA on versity of Ireland. Furthermore, the Slovak space technologies, products and services. Academy of Sciences is participating in the They also receive advice and have access to IMPRESS project.172 other relevant and necessary information. A joint assessment of Slovak industrial and The potential timeframe for future coopera- scientific potential in space will take place tion of Lithuania with ESA includes the sign- during 2012-2013 and a decision with regard ing of the ECS Agreement and consequently to ECS and PECS is expected during 2014- the PECS Agreement in 2013-14, the subse- 2015. Finally, accession to ESA Convention quent implementation of the PECS projects, can be expected by the end of the decade. and finally accession to the ESA Convention The timeline presented in Figure 21 shows by the end of the decade. the different steps of European countries towards ESA accession since 1990, while Slovak Republic Figure 22 provides an overview of their coop- Contacts and discussions with ESA started in eration with ESA. 2004 through the Slovak representative to the EU/ESA High Level Space Policy Group. Following a visit of an ESA delegation to Bra- tislava at the end of 2008, the Slovak Minis- try of Education was appointed as the na- tional agency to continue discussions with ESA, and a specific expert committee was created. On 28 April 2010, the Minister of Education of the Slovak Republic signed the Cooperation Agreement with ESA171. Areas for cooperation have been identified in space science, Earth observation and microgravity research.
172 This activity has been co-funded by the EC and ESA, with the objective to understand the critical links between the solidification processes of intermetallic alloys, the 171 “Slovak Republic Signs Cooperation Agreement.” 4 May structure of these materials at micro- and nano scales, and 2010. European Space Agency 30 Apr. 2013 their final mechanical, chemical and physical properties.
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Figure 21: Timeline of countries‘ cooperation with ESA
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Figure 22: Overview of European countries and their relations with ESA
2.3 ESA Enlargement in the 2.3.1 ESA and EU Relationship Light of the EU Space The first thing to note is that ESA is not an Agency of the European Union. ESA and the Mandate and Policy EU are separate institutions: ESA is an inter- governmental organisation, while the EU is When discussing the prospect of ESA supranational. The two institutions have dif- enlargement, it is necessary to bear in mind ferent ranges of competences, different and analyse the relationship that this inter- member states and are governed by different governmental agency has with the European rules and procedures. While the EU was Union, primarily because enlargement is ad- founded to enhance political, economic and dressed to all member states of the EU, not social cooperation among member states, yet members of ESA. In fact, enlargement is which have for these reasons set up common directly connected to EU efforts to position institutions to which they delegate some of itself as an effective actor in the space field. their sovereignty, “ESA was more the result Importantly, the integration process of new of a coordinated European space effort from ESA member states will affect the future of scientists”.173 The main objective, as under- the European space industry, the industrial lined by the Convention, was to create an and scientific base of which will grow further; international organisation, pooling the re- it will create new market niches, increase sources of European countries to enable sci- employment, form new companies in the entists to make a valuable contribution to the sector and enable more joint projects. These exploration and study of outer space. are important strategic goals not only for ESA, but also for the EU, as set out by the Lisbon Treaty and its space policy provisions. 173 Cit., Smith, Lesley Jane, and Kay-Uwe Hörl. “Construct- ing the European Space Policy: Past, Present and Future”. Commerce in Space: Infrastructures, Technologies, and Applications. Phillip Olla. Hershey: Information Science Reference, 2008.
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In addition to that, it must be noted that ESA work Agreement that was signed in October and the EU are two institutions that seem- 2003 and entered into force in May 2004 ingly have conflicting constitutional provisions provides the legal basis for EU/ESA coopera- and principles. The most important concerns tion. The agreement attempts to deal with financing and industrial policy. While ESA´s “all” aspects relevant for cooperation be- modus operandi is based on a geographical tween the two institutions: “its provisions return principle, according to which ESA address the areas and overall objectives of awards contributing member states with in- cooperation, the rules governing the imple- dustrial contracts equivalent to their financial mentation of joint programmes, the estab- participation, the EU is based on best-value- lishment of common ad hoc structures for for-money procurement. Much analysis of the harmonising the European Space Govern- EU´s competition laws versus ESA´s geo- ance, as well as the exchange of personnel, graphical return principles has been offered public relations”, etc.178. The Framework through the years174. What must be under- Agreement recognises that both parties have lined here is that there are some institutional specific complementary and mutually rein- and operational divergences that currently forcing strengths, and commits them to work divide the two organisations. together for the implementation of space projects that are beneficial for both and to However, in recent years the ties between avoid duplication of efforts, in order to opti- the two institutions have been reinforced by a mise available resources.179 The framework number of elements. Beyond the fact that has two main objectives: they share a common basis of 18 members, there is the increasing role that space plays 1. To establish a common basis and appro- in supporting Europe’s social, political and priate practical arrangements for efficient economic policies. Secondly, there is recogni- and mutually beneficial cooperation be- tion that they are working towards a common tween ESA and EU; objective: to strengthen European cohesion 2. To progressively develop a European and economic growth to benefit its citizens. space policy to link the demand for ser- Thirdly, the fact that each partner needs the vices and applications in support of EU other to fulfil public policy objectives, provide policies with the supply, through ESA, of an appropriate political profile and a more the space systems and infrastructure coherent framework for space activities in needed to meet that demand. Europe. As underlined by Minister Giuseppe Pizza at the Fourth Space Council, “the Euro- The focus of the following sections will be on pean Union is crucial for promotion and fi- the first of the two goals: governance of the nancing of operations which will provide space sector set out in the framework. Fur- benefits for the citizens”.175 In this regard, it thermore, they provide an analysis of the should be recalled that some 20% of the European Space Policy of 2007 and recent funds managed by ESA now originate from developments, also in the light of the Lisbon the EU budget176. Treaty and the latest EC Communications. The process of bringing ESA and the EU closer together has long-standing roots, with 2.3.2 European Space Governance parallel EU and ESA Council Resolutions as early as the 1990s, but “officially” starting Taking into account that aspiring ESA mem- with the Green and White Paper in 2001 and ber states are already members of the EU 2003. It was in 2004 that their relationship and therefore full partners in the EU decision was formalised on a legal basis.177 A Frame- making mechanism, it is important to analyse how European space governance is currently working. Until 2004, as discussed above, the 174 Froehlich, Annette. “Space and the Complexity of Euro- governance of the space sector was based on pean Rules and Policies: The Common Projects Galileo two pillars: a national pillar and ESA. Since and GMES–Precedence for a New European Legal Ap- proach?” Acta Astronautica 66.7-8 (2010): 1262-1265. the EU decided to position itself as an effec- 175 See: “Seventh Space Council Supports Strong Euro- tive actor in European space activities, the pean Leadership in Space.” 7 Dec. 2010. European Space space governance diarchy has turned into a Agency 29 Oct. 2013
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triangle (Figure 23). In this respect, it should was initiated at the end of the 1970´s in re- also be noted that ESA aspiring member sponse to the needs of European States en- states are part of the two apexes of this tri- gaging in space research.181 Nevertheless, angle. Each player in this composition has its over the past 35 years Europe has essentially own competences and interests. While mem- entrusted to ESA the role of implementing ber states or national space agencies respec- European policies in the space sector, and tively mainly coordinate space activities at European space programmes have been de- national level without a European scope and veloped essentially through the Agency. In ESA is a research and development agency, the last decade, however, the EU has become the EU is a strong political player that would increasingly involved in space activities and have the legitimacy to take political leader- the need for a comprehensive space policy ship. The goal of such leadership would be to has turned out to be of crucial importance. ensure consistency and coordination among The ESP could in fact allow Europe to respond different activities. to competition from highly ambitious and
capable emerging space powers, safeguard its interests and remain an indispensable international partner, by providing a more coherent and effective framework for its ac- tivities and, equally important, a stronger political profile in this field. The joint recognition of these factors by the EU, ESA and their member countries has fuelled the process eventually leading to the ESP. The ESP is the culmination of a decade- long process, characterized by milestones such as the adoption of a series of parallel EU and ESA Council Resolutions, the EC-ESA Framework Agreement in 2004, the European 182 Figure 23: Triangle of the main players in Europe Commission's Green Paper and White Pa- per183, the orientations given by the Space A coordinated and consolidated European Council, and the initiation of major flagship Space Policy also needs evolution of its gov- applications to be financed and delivered ernance. This also means establishing appro- jointly by the EU and ESA. The drafting and priate relations between the different actors implementation of a strong and coherent and solving the asymmetry of membership space policy is a complicated task and in the between ESA and the EU. As pointed out by case of Europe it is even more challenging. the ESA Director General, apart from differ- As mentioned above, ESA is not an agency of ent approaches and separate legal processes, the EU and the multitude of actors involved the divergent membership of these two insti- (ESA, EC, and member states) makes the process of crafting a coherent framework a tutions can lead to cumbersome decision- 184 making processes.180 Moreover, Europe very complex task at best . should avoid unsustainable duplication of It has to be recalled that the membership of activities and ensure access to publicly the EU does not equate to the membership of funded infrastructure. A proper balance of the memberships would also help the EU to de- velop and sustain a more effective and effi- 181 Smith, Lesley Jane, and Kay-Uwe Hörl. “Constructing cient industrial space policy. the European Space Policy: Past, Present and Future. Commerce in Space: Infrastructures, Technologies, and Applications. Phillip Olla. Hershey: Information Science 2.3.2 The European Space Policy Reference, 2008: 12. 182 Commission of the European Communities. Green Europe engages in space activities as space is Paper. European Space Policy. COM(2003) 17 final of 21 well recognized as a tool for reaching multiple January 2003. Brussels: European Union. 183 policy objectives. Indeed, activities of the EU The White Paper, drafted together with ESA, includes proposals for joint ESA-EU space programmes and takes in the space field did not start from scratch - the Framework Agreement as its basis for implementation. they were built upon existing technological Resource Document: Commission of the European Com- and industrial capabilities. Therefore, the EU munities. White Paper. Space: a New European Frontier joined the European space field as a new for an Expanding Union. An Action Plan for Implementing actor. The vision for a European Space Policy the European Space Policy. COM(2003) 673 final of 11 November 2003. Brussels: European Union. 184 Smith, Lesley Jane, and Kay-Uwe Hörl. “Constructing 180 “Resolution on the European Space Policy. ESA Direc- the European Space Policy: Past, Present and Future. tor General’s Proposal for the European Space Policy.” Commerce in Space: Infrastructures, Technologies, and June 2007. European Space Agency 29 Oct. 2013 Applications. Phillip Olla. Hershey: Information Science
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ESA and vice-versa, as well as the fact that the successful development of the European ESA members used to pursue their own indi- space sector and to the strong position of the vidual national space objectives while partici- European space industry on world markets, pating in the Agency’s programmes in paral- and reaffirms the roles and responsibilities of lel.185 Through this path, multiple bilateral the European Union, ESA and member states, and multilateral agreements as well as ad hoc as identified in the Orientations of the second European Programmes have supported Euro- meeting of the "Space Council". pean Space activities. Despite its flexibility, On the basis of such roles and in order to this system lacks the stability, certainty and take advantage of ESA experience and its coherence needed for a strong European institutional setting, calls on the European Space Policy (ESP). A coherent ESP would Commission to draw on the management and require that Europe realigns its relevant insti- technical expertise of ESA for managing the tutions and centralises its political and tech- European Community-funded R&D space nical expertise. infrastructure programmes with ESA coordi- Recognising the need for a stronger political nating the relevant agencies and entities in profile in the space sector, the EU and ESA Europe. finally decided to adopt “the path of rap- This ESA role should also include189: prochement and to combine their political, social, and technological expertise”186, in • Supporting the European Commission as order to develop a comprehensive European the technical expert in the elaboration of Space Policy. In May 2007, twenty-nine European Community initiatives involving European countries at the Fourth Space space-related activities and relevant Council expressed their support for the im- work programmes, and in the selection plementation of a European Space Policy, and monitoring of relevant work contrac- unifying the approaches of ESA and the EU tors, with those of their respective member • Management by ESA of European Com- states187. Prepared jointly by the European munity space-related activities in accor- Commission and ESA’s Director General and dance with the rules of the European then adopted through a Resolution of the Community. Space Council in May 2007, the European Space Policy sets out a basic vision and strat- In addition to this, the Resolution invites egy for the space sector and addresses issues member states - under the coordination of such as security and defence, access to space ESA - and in the case of significant European Community activities, in close cooperation and exploration. This was the first time that a 190 common political framework for space activi- with the European Commission : ties was created in Europe. However, the • To provide the best expertise for Euro- significance of the European Space Policy lies pean space programmes (such as GMES- in the fact that “it is the first wholly joint Space Component, exploration pro- document addressing all dimensions of space grammes and future launcher pro- activities, compiled and adopted after exten- grammes), sive consultations with member countries of • To increase synergy between national, the EU and ESA, as well as industry and other ESA and EC contributions to these pro- key stakeholders, and given an endorsement grammes leading progressively to an in- 188 by those member countries.” Through this tegrated programmatic approach while resolution, the EU, ESA and their member respecting national sovereignty. states have committed to increasing coordi- nation of their activities and programmes and According to the resolution, closer ties and an their respective roles relating to space. In increase in cooperation between ESA, the EU greater detail, the resolution, after appreciat- and the member states will bring substantial ing the crucial role that ESA has played in benefits to Europe by guaranteeing Europe’s providing an efficient structure for European full and unrestricted access to services pro- cooperation on joint space projects, contrib- vided by space systems in support of its poli- utes to the increasing role of Europe through cies. Furthermore, it must be noted that the Resolution of the Space Council of May 2007 invited the European Commission and the 185 Ibid.: 13. ESA Executive to establish a process of regu- 186 Ibid.: 13. lar monitoring and priority setting through an 187 Council of the European Union. Outcome of Proceed- implementation plan for the ESP. Accordingly, ings of the Council (Competitiveness) on 21-22 May 2007. Resolution on the European Space Policy. 10037/07 of 25 May 2007. Brussels: European Union. 189 Council of the European Union. Outcome of Proceed- 188 Cit., “European Space Policy”. 13 Aug. 2013. European ings of the Council (Competitiveness) on 21-22 May 2007. Commission 10 Dec. 2013 Resolution on the European Space Policy. 10037/07 of 25
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consultations between the EU, ESA and mals, while respecting the legislative or member countries started immediately to administrative provisions and customs of define modalities and priorities of implemen- the member states relating in particular tation. As far as the Industrial Policy is con- to religious rites, cultural traditions and regional heritage. cerned, the Resolution recognises that ESA has a flexible and effective industrial policy Art. 189, found under Title XIV of the based on cost-efficiency, competitiveness, » Treaty headed “Research and technologi- fair distribution of activities and competitive cal development and Space” bidding, which secures adequate industrial 1. To promote scientific and technical capacities, global competitiveness and a high progress, industrial competitiveness and degree of inner-European competition for the implementation of its policies, the efficient European cooperation on joint space Union shall draw up a European space policy. To this end, it may promote joint projects, thus providing the basis for the initiatives, support research and techno- successful development of space in Europe. It logical development and coordinate the also invites the European Commission to de- efforts needed for the exploration and velop adequate instruments and funding exploitation of space. schemes for Community actions in the space 2. To contribute to attaining the objec- domain, taking into account the specificities tives referred to in paragraph 1, the of the space sector, the need to strengthen European Parliament and the Council, its industry's competitiveness and the neces- acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, shall establish the sity of a balanced industrial structure. necessary measures, which may take the form of a European space programme, excluding any harmonisation of the laws 2.3.3 Recent Developments under the Lisbon and regulations of the member states. Treaty 3. The Union shall establish any appro- 191 priate relations with the European Space The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty Agency. has reinforced the case for space in Europe 4. This Article shall be without prejudice by creating legal bases for the action of the to the other provisions of this Title. EU in this field, which were not previously covered, and by putting “space” at the high- With the aim of resolving some of the previ- est level in the political agenda. The Treaty ous uncertainties, the provisions of the Lisbon contains essentially 3 Articles that explicitly Treaty specify the EU’s space competence, mention space: Article 4.3, Article 13, and which operates together with that of the EU Article 189, whose text is set out hereaf- member states (thus also with those not yet ter.192 members of ESA). In this context, the provi- sions of Article 4.3 and Article 13 confirm the » Art. 4.3 shared competences and support compe- In the areas of research, technological tences of the EU in different fields in which development and space, the Union shall space-based applications can serve as a tool have competence to carry out activities, “to help address the major challenges of the in particular to define and implement programmes; however, the exercise of Union and which is at the service of citi- 193 that competence shall not result in mem- zens” . Beyond the traditional EU fields (i.e. ber states being prevented from exercis- agriculture, fisheries, transport, etc), space ing theirs. can be an instrument at the service of the common foreign and security policy. Article Art 13 189 deals instead with the specific compe- » In formulating and implementing the Un- tence of the EU in the space domain, which ion's agriculture, fisheries, transport, in- entails mainly actions of support to R&D, ternal market, research and technological development and space policies, the Un- coordination and promotion of joint space 194 ion and the member states shall, since initiatives . animals are sentient beings, pay full re- However, the Treaty does not provide guid- gard to the welfare requirements of ani- ance on the definition of appropriate instru- ments and mechanisms (for example the 191 The Treaty of Lisbon was signed on 13 December 2007 funding resources) for the future actions of by the Heads of States and Government and entered into the EU concerning space, and does not spec- force on 1 December 2009, amending the Treaty on Euro- pean Union (TEU), and the Treaty establishing the Euro- ify what the “necessary measures” cited in pean Community (TEC), which is renamed the Treaty on the second paragraph could exactly be, what the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). instruments will be developed and what in- 192 Council of the European Union. Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 6655/1/08 REV 1 of 30 April 2008. Brussels: European 193 European Space Agency. European Space Technology Union. Document available at: Master Plan 2010. Paris: ESA, 2011: 57.
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dustrial policy will be followed.195 Article a) ESA´s role includes: 189.3 states that the EU should establish • To support the EC as technical expert in appropriate relations with ESA, but does not the elaboration of European space- provide elements to qualify what “appropriate related activities and in the selection and relations” with ESA entail. However, it can be monitoring of work contractors; argued that the membership asymmetry be- • To manage European Community space- tween ESA and the EU is one of the funda- related activities in accordance with the mental issues in the establishment of appro- rules of the European Community; priate relations between the two institutions. • To lead the process of harmonising tech- Thanks to the provisions of the Treaty, not nology development programmes, since only ESA but also the EU has the competence the EC recognises that the ESA system to draw up “a European Space Policy and to provides transparency on research across implement such a policy. As was noted in an Europe and increases coordination; Information Document by ESA196 “the utilisa- • To develop and implement space tech- tion of the indefinite article “a” in both TFEU nologies, in particular access to space, and ESA Convention” could imply the coexis- science and exploration, and to support tence of more than one policy (an ESA policy technical specifications of the space and a separate EU policy with its member segment. states, thus also including the non-members b) EU´s role includes: of ESA). In practice, however, this did not occur because the EC and ESA jointly elabo- • To carry out activities, in particular to rated the ESP in 2007. Nevertheless, impor- define and implement programmes, in tant considerations relate to current work the different fields in which space-based under the EU – ESA cooperation agreement, applications can serve as a tool for ad- such as the creation of a common basis and dressing the EU´s general policies; appropriate arrangements for efficient and • To promote joint initiatives, support Re- mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of search and Technology Development space. On the one hand, with the EU there (RTD) and coordinate the efforts for the exists a political giant that has great legiti- exploration and exploitation of space; macy and indeed the possibility to enforce a • To ensure the availability and continuity space policy from a political and regulatory of service supporting EU policies by fund- point of view, but does not have the technical ing relevant up-stream research activi- capacity. On the other hand, ESA, as an in- ties; dependent intergovernmental organisation, • To create an optimum regulatory envi- has the technical competences and instru- ronment and facilitate innovation; ments to realise complex space projects. • To promote coordination of the European Having this in mind, the goal now should be position in international cooperation; to combine these strengths in order to opti- • To develop and implement the European mally utilise the available resources and to Space Policy. promote economic growth. In general, there should be a balance of relative strength in Through this framework it becomes clear that the triangle between the EU, ESA and their the EU has increasing influence on the al- respective member states. ready complex framework between ESA and its members and aspiring members respec- If it is true that these recent developments tively. Presumably, this influence will also have reinforced ESA-EU governance, they shape the environment ESA members and have also deepened the framework of compe- aspiring member states will have to work tences between the EU, ESA and their mem- within. As a result, the enlargement process bers (in particular those not yet member of could also be affected. To better assess this ESA). This issue is indeed quite relevant for point, it could be useful to look at the com- those countries: given the membership munications recently issued by the EC with asymmetry between ESA and the EU, these the intention of further developing and im- countries have become involved in carrying plementing the ESP. out EU tasks but are in fact still excluded from the execution of ESA competences. One of the most relevant documents is the These different roles and competences ESA EC Communication entitled “Toward a space strategy for the European Union that benefits and the EU respectively have can be summa- 197 rised in a comparison of the ESP, the Lisbon its citizens”, released on 4 April 2011 . The Treaty and the resolutions of the Space Council as follows: 197 European Commission. Communication from the Com- mission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Com- 195 Ibid.:5 mittee of the Regions. Towards a Space Strategy for the 196 Ibid.:5 European Union that Benefits its Citizens. COM(2011) 152
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Communication sets the basis for an EU ment, entitled “Establishing appropriate rela- space strategy. Despite the fact that it is a tions between the EU and the European non-binding document, the Communication is Space Agency” explicitly suggests that, given a strong political statement that begins to the mismatch of financial rules, membership address the real scope of EU space compe- asymmetry, and security and defence-related tence, as affirmed by the Lisbon Treaty. It asymmetry, “ESA could make the necessary lays down, in fact, a whole set of policy ra- structural adaptations... and make the neces- tionales, priority actions as well as a govern- sary changes allowing unrestricted access to ance and financial framework that prepare ESA's relevant statutory bodies...”202 The the basis for the EU actions under its space document clearly affirms also that the “EU competence198. After identifying the political can provide political dimension (including at imperatives for EU involvement in space199, the international level) and legitimacy, as the document defines the EU space compe- well as links with other policy areas. “The tences and the role of the EU in the European need for greater operational efficiency, sym- space-related decision making process. It metry in defence and security matters, politi- advances the EU position towards a coordi- cal coordination and accountability can only nated European Space Strategy and explicitly be resolved, in the long term, through the asks ESA and EU to establish a coordinated rapprochement of ESA towards the European industrial policy and a coordinated govern- Union”.203 ance scheme. In that respect, the Communi- In that respect, it becomes clear that the EU cation emphasises, in particular, “a re- intents to gradually “assimilate” ESA into EU assessment of ESA-EU relations, with the structures, as a kind of space agency of the view to a gradual adaption of ESA in accor- EU. To date, ESA-EU relations are far from dance with the increasing role of the EU” in being determined but it goes without saying the space domain200. To sum up, the Com- that an eventual transformation of ESA into munication collects the results of the discus- an EU agency would also seriously affect the sions that have taken place in recent years in possibilities of European Cooperating States the context of space, and contains a list of and aspiring countries to gain advantages priority measures and instruments. It is not a from ESA membership. In concrete, the im- strategy in itself; rather it is another step in plied possibility to abide by the EU rules, and the direction of defining the role of space in in particular to the procurement principle of Europe as well as the role of the EU in the best-value-for-money (with the obvious space field. Therefore, the Communication abandonment of the geo-return principle), leaves open the questions of follow through could raise fears and tangible problems for and necessary further steps. As the Commu- the aspiring members. The main ones would nication and various other documents make logically be that bigger industries, typically clear, the EC sees space not as a goal in itself the ones of the historical members of the but rather as a tool to achieve economic, Agency will gain many advantages compared social and strategic goals through the support to the smaller industries of aspiring mem- of other policy areas. bers. Without the geo-return principle, con- This emphasis becomes even more visible in tributions to the ESA space programme could the Communication issued by the Commis- be easily perceived in the aspiring countries sion to the Council and the European Parlia- as “lost money”, and their accession might be ment on 14 November 2012. 201 The docu- eventually postponed or even abandoned.
final of 4 April 2011. Brussels: European Union. Document available at the European Commission website:
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This eventuality is still far from taking place; plays in facilitating performance and capabil- however, given the increasing involvement ity audits during the accession processes of and influence exercised by the EU over ESA new member states. In that respect, the EU activities, the question to be discussed is also would benefit from ESA enlargement, relying whether the EU could have other motivations on the management and technical expertise in promoting ESA enlargement. of the Agency. Those countries could benefit from technology development programmes that provide transparency in research and 2.3.5 A Role for the EU in Promoting ESA from technology developments that might Enlargement? offer niche opportunities. Furthermore, the The following section discusses and analyses ESA “juste retour” principle and the possibil- the reasons the EU may have for supporting ity of optional programmes is an advantage the ESA enlargement process. especially for smaller countries. The fact that all EU member states are fully Much has been said about ESA as THE space part of the decision-making process of the agency of Europe, and although this might be ESP and European Space Programmes, but achieved in a number of ways, it is hardly not fully engaged in the decision making achievable if a large number of European processes of ESA introduces an imbalance states do not participate, particularly if they which can impair both space as a European share one characteristic, namely, that they policy instrument and the funding for Euro- are economies in transition and relatively pean ‘flagship’ projects. It is clear that out- new members of the EU and the European side ESA, many countries find difficulties in fabric being created by the EU. participating fully in such programmes and in Clearly, the initiative for accession to the ESA gaining the industrial and scientific benefits of Convention must primarily come from the these programmes. The case of GMES for states themselves, however, the EU pos- instance, has shown that non-ESA member sesses a number of general tools, which states have been quite hesitant in funding a might be deployed to aid the process. These programme in which they are not fully en- are analysed below. gaged also on the ESA side. It would appear that only through an enlarged ESA, could the EU Funding Mechanisms EU provide a more coherent and “legitimate” framework of space activities in Europe and An important opportunity for potential ESA fully implement pan- European Space Pro- candidate countries is presented by EU fund- grammes. ing. There is a variety of significant sources of funding which are or can be channelled for The structural impediment is important be- the benefit of new member states, most of cause the European flagship programmes are the time following a bottom-up process. At designed so that the EU can pursue its objec- European level, the effort concentrates on the tive of strengthening European cohesion and so-called European Cohesion Policy. The main economic growth to benefit its citizens. Space objective of this policy, as set out in Article is playing an increasing role in supporting 174 of the Treaty of Lisbon, consists in reduc- Europe’s social, political and economic poli- ing disparities between the levels of devel- cies. Therefore, the enlargement of ESA, opment of the various regions and the acting as a powerful stimulus for increasing strengthening of economic, social (and terri- the space programmes of the different EU torial) cohesion in order to promote overall countries, will help the EU in enhancing the harmonious development of the EU204. EU level of employment, the budget for R&D Cohesion Policy works through the European (with the goal of 3% of EU GDP defined by Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Europe 2020), strengthening the European European Social Fund (ESF, known as Struc- industrial and scientific base and enlarging tural Funds), as well as the Cohesion the market. In the space field these objec- Fund:205 tives cannot be efficiently achieved without a high degree of convergence between EU, ESA • The ERDF supports regions having the and the respective member states. lowest GDP per head; A competitive European space industry is of strategic importance for the ESP, which 204 Council of the European Union. Consolidated Version of means strong and competitive organisations the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. along the different value chains. With regard 6655/1/08 REV 1 of 30 April 2008. Brussels: European to some Eastern European countries not yet Union. Document available at: members of ESA who do not have a strong
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• The Cohesion Fund co-finances projects competitiveness”.208 It covers the period in transport and the environment in MS 2014 - 2020 with an €80 billion budget, com- whose GNP is less than 90% of the EU bining all research and innovation funding average; currently provided through the Framework • The ESF is the financial instrument for Programme for Research and Technical De- supporting employment as well as pro- velopment, the innovation related activities of moting economic and social cohesion in the Competitiveness and Innovation Frame- the member states of the EU. work Programme and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.209 H2020 has It would appear possible for the EU to use three main objectives210: these instruments, for instance, by allocating a dedicated budget for the development of • Strengthen the EU’s position in science space-based applications in CEE countries in with a dedicated budget of € 24.598 mil- order to pave the way for ESA Membership. lion. This will provide a boost to top-level For example, as part of its task to promote research in Europe, including an increase regional development in order to reduce the in funding of 77% for the very successful gap between the different levels of Europe’s European Research Council. regions206, the ERDF can provide funding with • Strengthen industrial leadership in inno- regard to the three objectives: “Conver- vation (€ 17.938 million). This includes gence”, “Regional competitiveness and em- major investment in key technologies, ployment” and “European territorial coopera- greater access to capital and support for tion”. These objectives cover important fields SMEs. such as research and technological develop- • Providing € 31.748 million to help ad- ment, innovation and entrepreneurship, cre- dress major concerns shared by all Euro- ating sustainable jobs, or stimulating eco- peans such as climate change, develop- nomic growth. As already mentioned, space ing sustainable transport and mobility, can be an important tool to enable these key making renewable energy more afford- objectives and an important driver of eco- able, ensuring food safety and security, nomic growth and of high-tech research. The and coping with the challenge of an age- ESF could be another financial instrument ing population. that could be deployed in a space context. Its As shown, there are thus three main areas of particular goal is the creation of new and focus within H2020: science, industry and qualitatively better jobs in the EU by co- society. Space, identified a strategic and criti- funding regional, national and local pro- cal asset for the EU and its Member States, is jects207. Space leads to innovation and re- included in the competitive industry objective search and therefore could be key for the of H2020. Galileo and Copernicus-GMES, the creation of new or better jobs. Furthermore, two European flagship programmes in space, Europe is facing a reduction in the interest of are both financed within this framework.211 young people in science, engineering and 212 technology. Space can inspire students in these critical fields in order to secure a suffi-
cient quantity and quality of human capital in 208 related areas. “The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.” 20 Sept. 2013. Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission 29 Oct. 2013 Framework Programmes
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The participation of potential ESA candidate contributing in identifying areas of potential states in the calls for proposals and tenders interest in the next framework programme within this Framework Programme will offer and becoming more acquainted with other’s new opportunities not only for business and countries perspectives and with EU proce- space research but also for increasing em- dures related to the FP8. ployment and contributing to the socio- economic development of a country. It also Education and Research Activities represents a potential instrument to prepare for ESA membership and to strengthen the Another field where the EU could play a fun- industrial base. Clearly aspiring states should damental role in facilitating the process aspir- make a strenuous effort to attract significant ing ESA member states are going through is H2020 funding, and national space policies education. Not by chance, education is at the should be correspondingly geared. But also same time one of the major elements in both the Commission, in charge of this pro- Europe 2020 and the European Space Policy gramme, should make dedicated efforts to and one objective included in the ESA Con- define projects within H2020 which are par- vention as part of mandatory activities. Be- ticularly suitable for industry and institutions yond various activities and initiatives included in aspiring ESA member states. in the framework programmes (e.g. the re- search activities within the Space Founda- Workshops on Space Technology tions216), there are other initiatives worth mentioning. The Directorate-General for Enterprise and The question should also be how EU educa- Industry has been organising a series of tion activities could be aligned with ESA edu- workshops on Space Research and Technol- cation activities and how a special focus could ogy Development (RTD) related to H2020. be put on youth in aspiring countries? The EU The first workshop, dedicated to Space tech- could for instance fund traineeships for nology, was held in Brussels in January 2013, graduates in the space field that would be while the second, on Space Science and Ex- executed by and within ESA. These trainee- ploration, was held in Madrid in February ships could be offered to young people of 2013213. These workshops constitute an addi- aspiring countries, inspiring and motivating tional stage to the consultation process that students to pursue careers in a technical field started with the "Hearing on Space Research (i.e. science, engineering, technology, in FP8",214 which was held on 8 December mathematics) and thus also facilitating ESA 2010, and that has continued with the recent enlargement. In this context, it would be also recommendations issued by the FP7 Space conceivable that the EU starts nano-satellite Advisory Group. The purpose of these work- projects, focused on aspiring countries. By shops is to directly consult the space re- starting such projects, the EU would support search community, so as to gather their input those countries in developing their space on the Commission's proposal for space re- industry and promoting space to the public. search under Horizon 2020 and the corre- In January 2013, for example, the EU sponding implementation strategy.215 launched the FP7 project NANOSAT that aims Through these workshops, aspiring ESA to contribute to a roadmap for space and member states are offered the possibility of innovation in Europe.217 With a total budget of about 500.000 Euro, the two-year project and space components. See: “Securing Operational EU brings together five partners from Estonia, Funding for GMES Copernicus”. 19 Feb. 2013. Director- Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. ate-General Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission 29 Oct. 2013
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Furthermore, it appears possible that the EU to support research”.220 TPs aim to respond could develop crowd-sourcing platforms or to the need to bring together enterprises, associated prizes for the best ideas on space. research institutions and the financial world This seems to be a powerful tool to stimulate in order to define a common research agenda young people and to engage a broad segment that should mobilise public and private re- of a population. Such platforms could be de- sources and bring tangible results in research signed especially for youth in aspiring coun- and innovative technologies. The develop- tries under the guidance of experts from ment and implementation of European TPs is European institutions in order to ensure that essentially a “bottom-up process”. It is in fact the corresponding projects fit in the overall taken by stakeholders of a certain area, who space portfolio. The objectives and structures agree on a common vision. Even though the would have to be defined for each project and key role in initiating and leading the TPs is could be in response to specific needs of par- played by stakeholders, in particular by in- ticipating countries. dustry, the EC provides support, for example through active participation as an observer in The EU has also started regional initiatives to many platforms and by offering a guiding promote education and training as a way of role, when appropriate. connecting neighbouring countries such as, for example, the “Eastern Partnership” or the With the aim of avoiding dilution of the TP “Western Balkans Platform on Education and concept and duplication among platforms, the Training”.218 Such initiatives could be ex- EC services evaluate emerging initiatives, tended by building a platform for promoting according to a set of pre-established criteria, and educating on space, especially for EU and give recommendations for their devel- member states that are not yet members of opment. The Commission services follow de- ESA. This is similar to the idea of interest velopments within technology platforms and, groups that is discussed in Chapter 3 of the where appropriate, use their input in the report. course of developing European research pol- icy. However, only few TPs are of direct rele- In order to increase awareness of how space vance to the space sector. The most impor- and its applications provide benefits to Euro- tant for space deal with hydrogen and fuel pean citizens and to underline the critical role cells, photovoltaic, advanced materials, ro- of the EU in space and space-based technolo- botics, micro- and nano-technologies, em- gies, the EC has launched a European Space bedded systems, and aeronautics.221 Expo. 219 The exhibition takes place in differ- ent hosting locations, included CEE capitals A Space Technology Platform, led by ESA in such as Warsaw and Bratislava. In fact, the collaboration with member states, was estab- public is hungry for space-based information lished in 2005 under the frame of the ETP but also sceptical about the benefits of space and with the encouragement of the EC/ESA related activities and therefore communica- Joint Secretariat. The European Space Tech- tions plays an important role. In this context, nology Platform (ESTP) aims at creating a the European Space Expo represents an in- non-dependent technology portfolio facilitat- teresting initiative for generating public ing European strategic independence for ac- awareness for space activities in countries cess to and exploration in space.222 Further- where the enhancement of expenditures on more, the platform should support the devel- space is needed in order to get prepared for opment of next-generation technologies that ESA membership. leverage ambitions in space-related sectors such as, for example, Galileo, Copernicus, Technology Platforms security, and space exploration. The objec- tives of the ESTP are to: Another opportunity that may help aspiring countries in their process of joining ESA is • Open the coordination process to all EU presented by Technology Platforms (TP), member states; launched in 2004 by the EC as part of a lar- ger initiative, which was described in the 220 Commission of the European Communities. Communi- “Guidelines for future European Union Policy cation from the Commission. Science and Technology, the Key to Europe’s Future – Guidelines for Future European Union Policy to Support Research. COM(2004) 353 final of 218 “International Co-Operation in Education and Training.” 16 June 2004. Brussels: European Union. < 9 July 2013. Directorate-General Education & Training of ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/era/docs/com2004_353_en.p the European Commission 29 Oct. 2013 df>.
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• Provide a long-term vision for space Especially for smaller companies such as technology R&D; technology spin-offs and start-ups, these • Establish a coherent framework for the platforms offer research and market orienta- development of space technology in tion opportunities for the future.224 In con- Europe; crete terms, companies and business associa- • Promote actions to reduce European non- tions in the different countries might get to- dependence; gether, following the ITF (International • Enhance and cross-fertilise technology; Transport Forum) model or the Space IGT • Develop synergies between the ESTP and (Space Innovation and Growth Team), to other related non-space TPs; create an association, with the aim of: • Promote joint upstream research on • Identifying the shared technology and technologies of dual-use; industrial needs of member companies • Drive technology R&D strategy in re- • Confronting respective needs with the sponse to EU needs; circulation of business plans • Facilitate international cooperation on • Seeking out innovative solutions technology issues. • Accessing the technology development At the same time, the ESTP aims at facilitat- funds ing interactions between the European Har- • Launching collaborative joint industry monisation Process and related non-space- projects technology platforms and initiatives. It is for • Delivering technology implementation that reason that the ESTP builds on the suc- • Creating a suitable match making func- cess of a pre-existing co-ordination and har- tion monisation effort, the European Space Tech- Such a facilitator would link companies to nology Master Plan ESTMP, sustained by ESA government, agencies and other space com- and its member states, national agencies, panies seeking suppliers, partners and col- space industry and research organisations. laborators. The ESTP complements this effort in several strategic areas. The ESTP will support the enlargement of the Union (and of ESA) by Business Angels helping the integration of new EU Members Finally, a helpful instrument for enlarging the States in the space sector along agreed industrial base of ESA aspiring member roadmaps, and will facilitate interactions be- states would be represented by EC involve- tween the space sector and non-space tech- ment in the networking of the so-called nology initiatives. “Since its pilot launch in “Business Angels”225 to the benefit of space 2000, approximately 40 technologies have activities in these countries. In general, busi- been harmonised, with the participation of all ness angels are individual investors who pro- ESA member states, Eurospace, industry, vide both capital and managerial experience more than 700 professionals from more than for start-up companies. More and more angel 170 European space companies and research investors organise themselves into angel 223 organisations.” groups or networks with the goal of sharing Some recent ESA members, such as Poland research and bundling their investment capi- and Romania, have already launched a num- tal. EBAN (The European Trade Association ber of TPs in non-space-related areas. The for Business Angels, Seed Funds, and other ESTP could be an important activity to boost Early Stage Market Players) is a European the integration process in ESA of EU Members business angel network that was established 226 States not yet members of the Agency. East- under EC auspices in 1999 . ern European Countries such as Slovenia, In this context, what might be relevant for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania could build market entrants from aspiring ESA member together a TP to mobilise a critical mass of states is not so much the capital but more their public and private resources and bring the access to the expertise of executives with tangible results in research and innovative a long history of involvement in the space technologies. These efforts could make their business. Hence the profile of business angels industry grow and get prepared for ESA and absorb the geographical return. The EC could 224 Giannopapa, Christina, Peter Hulsroj, Arne Lahcen, and support this specific effort, which, in a sense, Nunzia Paradiso. “Space and the Processes of Innova- might be understood as a sub-technology tion.” ESPI Report 43 July 2012: 58. platform of the ESTP. 225 “Business Angels.” 5 Feb. 2013. Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission 29 Oct. 2013
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in this case would be different from that of normal business angels and access to senior expertise would be the defining feature. In Chapter 3, the concept of Business Angels and how it could be used as a useful instru- ment for aspiring countries will be described in more detail.
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3. Instruments for Aspiring Countries
Countries on the road to full ESA membership ing national industry and preparing it for the have to face various challenges. Experience competitive environment in ESA, which can shows that despite the deliberate pace and be referred to as industry-oriented, and insti- the various supportive measures new mem- tution-oriented tools, intended to increase ber states have had a hard time adapting to awareness among the public and decision- the ESA environment and its exigent re- makers in order to strengthen the space edu- quirements. Compared to other entrants the cation system and to foster cooperative and Czech Republic might have had an easier efficient relations between government, uni- time, but Romania is facing real structural versities and industries. issues and Poland has to manage a steep A mutually beneficial interplay among these increase in involvement, because of the size three pillars (government, industry and aca- of its economy, and the relative modest in- demia, as shown in Figure 24) appears to be vestments through the PECS scheme. fundamental for the proper development of The following section analyses and discusses space activities in every country, and particu- potential additional instruments that can be larly for ESA aspiring member states. Each of supportive for aspiring countries, including these institutions can positively contribute to measures these states can take to help their the growth of space activities only by coordi- industry and scientific organisations survive nating its actions with the others in order to in the competitive environment in ESA. Given optimize the utilisation of resources and ca- the current quite supportive frame for rap- pabilities and create the conditions for com- prochement to ESA, which was described in petitive advantage in the space sector. Unfor- previous chapters, there are questions as to tunately, the academic community is often how the existing tools can be deployed by excluded from the dialogue between industry national stakeholders in the best possible way and national agencies. Nevertheless, a close and questions on whether such stakeholders relationship between universities and re- on their own can define further accompanying search institutions respectively and industry measures that would further ease the way for is important as the latter can access innova- aspiring countries. Instruments aspiring tive ideas and technologies arising from aca- countries could use may be grouped into two main categories: those aimed at strengthen-
Figure 24: Three fundamental pillars for the development of space activities
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demia that can enhance their international up phase, thus helping to fill the “equity gap” competitiveness. This is especially the case in between the seed and early growth.227 the space sector. Therefore, efforts have to Business angels are usually pooled in groups be made to strengthen the expertise of uni- or networks to share research and bundle versities and expand their portfolio in order investment capital as well as to provide train- to guarantee the training of experts. The role ing to entrepreneurs and their members. One of government is essential to define a long example of such a network is the European term and effective space policy, a task that Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed cannot be accomplished without efficient Funds, and other Early Stage Market Players coordination with national industry and aca- (EBAN). It is a non-profit association, estab- demia. Another important aspect is to keep lished in 1999 by a group of pioneer angel the ship steady. Policy-makers need to en- networks and the Association of Development sure a predictable and stable environment of Agencies (EURADA), with the support of the funding for long-term strategic activities in European Commission228. EBAN is represen- the space sector. tative of more than 250 business angel net- Potential supportive instruments for aspiring works in Europe, which means that the asso- countries can be identified for each of the ciation federates around 20.000 angels. That three fundamental pillars. Questions that partnership between such business angel should be addressed in this context include networks and the space sector is nothing new whether there is a basis for creating “ESA is shown by the collaboration between EBAN interest groups” for aspiring countries and and ESA, represented by its Technology their industries or whether an optional pro- Transfer Programme Office (TTPO), which gramme for ECS countries only could be set started a three-year strategic partnership in up. January 2010. This partnership aims at in- forming and raising awareness among Euro- pean business angels and early stage inves- tors about innovation funded by the European 3.1 Mentoring Programmes space programme. The collaboration should support ESA’s approach to these investors Countries interested in strengthening their and stimulate exchange between business cooperation with ESA have to face several angel networks and selected business incuba- challenges. One of the biggest challenges in tors that focus on transferring space technol- this respect is to make industry and scientific ogy and applications to other markets229. institutions fit for winning work through com- petitions with well-established organisations ESA, TTPO and EBAN are regarded as ideal from member states as well as to be able to partners: ESA provides a steady flow of capture a ‘juste retour’ for their investment. promising high-tech companies and the start- In order to overcome problems, candidate ups get the chance to convince early stage countries have to expand and reinforce the investors. In concrete terms, the utility of the national industrial base, by both facilitating partnership starts immediately after the incu- the establishment of new companies in the bation phase. ESA Business Incubation Cen- space sector and strengthening the expertise tres (BIC) help start-up companies take their of already existing organisations. business idea off the ground and form a start-up business, and the business angel In the seeding and start-up of new compa- takes the firm from being an incubation nies the already well-established networks of graduate to being a viable business earning ‘Business Angels’ could play a supporting money through seed funding. role. Business Angels can be defined as pri- vate individuals who invest in business start- The question is whether the concept of busi- ups, usually in exchange for becoming share- ness angels and their collaboration with the holders of the companies. In addition to European space sector could also be useful funds, angel investors often share their per- for non ESA member states, particularly since sonal business management expertise and the involvement of such investors in the network of contacts with the entrepreneur start-up of new companies in aspiring states and thus are offering more than just money. One major difference to other financing 227 sources is that business angels typically in- De Caro, Chiara. “Business Angels.” Presentation. Workshop on ESA Enlargement. ESPI, Vienna, Austria. 23 vest their own funds, while venture capital- Mar. 2012. ists, for example, invest the financial capital 228 “EBAN, The European Trade Association for Business of third-party investors. In addition, their Angels, Seed Funds, and other Early Stage Market Play- investment is typically focused on the start- ers”. 2013. EBAN 30 Oct. 2013
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would primarily bring capital and less exper- would be looking for is primarily space mar- tise in the space field. Nevertheless, capital ket experience, expertise and a useful net- start-up companies could benefit from the work they can build on231. In that respect, network and the extensive knowledge of mentoring programmes offered by ‘business market trends of business angels. Moreover, facilitators’ could be an invaluable tool. Ex- the industry in these countries might also amples of mentoring programmes exist benefit from the partnership between EBAN mainly in the academic field, as described in and ESA and learn from the experience in the following chapters. Nevertheless, there financing the development of space technolo- are also cases of industry facilitators, which gies and applications. In this way, industry can be either individuals or organisations, would also get closer to the ESA culture and outside the space sector, for example in the by virtue of EBAN mediation, states might get fields of energy, aerospace and defence. indirect access to the ESA Technology Trans- Facilitators can be defined as individuals or fer Programme. It has to be stated, however, organizations that enable groups and organi- that since the average amount of investment zations to work more effectively to collabo- by a business angel in Europe is between rate and achieve synergy.232 Business facili- 25.000 and 250.000 Euro230, depending on tators mainly provide capacity building, en- the business type and the region, the com- trepreneurship, innovation, skills building, pany established with the support of the in- cross-border trade, investment and business vestor would be most probably a niche- linkages. Business facilitators would link market oriented enterprise (e.g. space-based companies to each other, to government, applications or system components) with the agencies and other space companies seeking potential to gradually grow. However, the suppliers, partners and collaborators. In this mere enlargement of space market and in- context, space industry or space institution dustry capabilities in candidate countries retirees could fulfil the role of such facilita- would most likely increase the level of com- tors, for example. There is, in fact, a number petition inside the country and thus could be of retired people from ESA and the space a powerful stimulus for making the national industry that have expressed an interest in space market fit for future ESA membership. continuing to be involved with space on a For business angels, investing in space - es- ‘hobby’ or part time basis. They possess wide pecially in the manufacturing segment - experience and expertise in space technolo- might be at least challenging, given the pecu- gies and science. Of course, the modalities of liar characteristics of this sector (high con- their involvement and the concrete activities centration, entry barriers and low average they could perform may vary. In addition to profitability). Their focus however will pre- participation in promotion activities directed sumably be in the service segment, which to very diverse audiences (e.g. schools, uni- offers more opportunities: it appears to be versities, governmental and public depart- highly profitable; investments usually lead to ments, and scientific institutions) these space profits in a shorter period of time than the experts could support companies from aspir- manufacturing sector, and barriers to entry ing countries that are trying to break into the are less strong. ESA space business233. Many of them would presumably not want to assist companies that would be in direct competition with the 3.1.1 Business Facilitators companies they were working for, but might Companies in ECS countries might often not be interested in market entrants. They might need access to new capital, as the traditional act as a kind of mentor, they might serve on concept of business angels would bring. As the board of such market entrants, and they underlined, these ‘angels’ are predominantly might give access to their network, without involved in start-up companies. Aspiring ESA interfering with the interests of the company member states, however, also have already they served in the past and without creating established companies with existing manufac- a direct competitor. Candidate countries turing and high-tech core business in non- could use this business facilitator tool to bring space related sectors that would be open for business in space. In that case, the market 231 entrants, unlike start-ups, have already well- European Space Policy Institute. Executive Brief: Busi- established capital sourcing systems and ness Facilitators and Happiness in ESA. Vienna: ESPI, 2012. would not need access to new capital. Enter- 232 An individual who assists in the management of an ing the space business would hence often not exchange of ideas, information, and opinions. A facilitator lead to equity dilution. What market entrants is expected to offer guidance along the way to making decisions rather than provide expertise on a particular subject relevant to the decisions. Business dictionary 230 De Caro, Chiara. “Business Angels.” Presentation. 233 Duchossois, Guy. “Initiative on Space Promotion and Workshop on ESA Enlargement. ESPI, Vienna, Austria. 23 Education (ISPE).” Presentation. ESA Enlargement Work- Mar. 2012. shop. ESPI, Vienna, Austria. 23 Mar. 2012.
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space business expertise to non-space com- These examples show that initiatives such as panies wanting to expand into the space the ISPE could support the ESA enlargement business when their home countries become process in various ways. Business facilitators, full members of ESA234. taking over the role of mentors, might play a useful role for industries, institutions and However, it has to be seen how the participa- agencies in aspiring countries through their tion of retired space experts in the promotion deep and proven knowledge of internal ESA of space activities could be organised. The structures and procedures as well as of the creation of an association or an umbrella decision-making mechanisms at all levels. organisation that would act as a clearing The level of contributions may vary from house for retired senior executives ready to general presentations and bilateral meetings become involved and to support space mar- with industry representatives at workshops ket entrants having set their sights on ESA and conferences to mentoring and training business could be a feasible solution. More- activities for companies. Therefore, these over, business associations in EU member activities could be organised accordingly, states not yet members of ESA might join either on a free basis for limited efforts or on together in order to create a suitable match- a fee basis for bigger efforts and detailed making function. training activities. An interesting impulse in this direction is already offered by the Initiative on Space Promotion and Education (ISPE), a grouping 3.1.2 Business to Business Relations of retired ESA staff that was launched in Anotherr important question that arises in 2009. At the moment this initiative is in a this context is whether and why space indus- work-in-progress phase. Members of the as- tries from ESA member states should be in- sociation generally have a wide spectrum of terested in the ESA enlargement process. expertise and longstanding experience in Possible reasons involve both industrial and many space thematic domains (such as Earth political dimensions. From an industrial point observation, Space science, Launchers, Tele- of view, the Eastern European region is a communication, or Human Spaceflight). In fertile area for the development of new satel- particular they have expert knowledge in the lite based services of direct benefit for socio- management of medium to large space pro- economic development for example, and new jects (including space and ground compo- member states might open opportunities for nents). As project managers, they have a growth. Countries in this region are open to strong and acknowledged competence in new ideas and innovation, with many oppor- team management, ESA procurement and tunities to apply cutting-edge technologies. contract management procedures (e.g. ESA Therefore, companies from the already well- ITT releases and evaluation procedures, ne- established space nations can find new mar- gotiations with and selection of industrial ket possibilities, for example to deliver space- consortia, the role of prime and sub- based systems in the area of Earth observa- contractors, and ESA contract management tion, telecommunication, and integrated ap- procedures) as well as ESA project and plications. Furthermore, they may find oppor- budget control and reporting. Furthermore, tunities to participate in national security and these retired space experts have been in- defence programmes235. On the other side, volved in all major parts of a space project these aspiring countries may also offer devel- such as the interactions with user communi- opment and production capabilities at lower ties, discussions/negotiations with ESA dele- costs as well as specific expertise in certain gates at various levels, the monitoring of the domains (e.g. for developing missing critical development, the launch and possibly the technologies). And lower production costs can exploitation and promotion of results and help to increase the European space sector’s lessons learned. Some ISPE members even competitiveness in certain domains. have strong expertise in international coop- eration (PECS for ESA new member states, It is clear that for well-established space negotiation of cooperation agreements with companies of ESA member states this is a foreign space countries and projects, data long-term investment and requires a lot of transmission to foreign receiving stations, effort and therefore each firm has its own etc.) or consulting activities for the European strategy and vision. In most cases, their first Commission (EC) and therefore a good un- priority is to select targeted countries and to 236 derstanding of EC procedures and mecha- set up a dedicated light organisation . Fur- nisms. thermore, the companies could trigger work-
235 Maquet, Gilles. “Discussing Accompanying Processes.” 234 European Space Policy Institute. Executive Brief: Busi- Presentation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI, Vienna, ness Facilitators and Happiness in ESA. Vienna: ESPI, Austria. 23 Mar. 2012. 2012. 236 Ibid.
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shops in these countries in order to discuss duction capabilities will come at lower cost for procurement policy and identify areas for the already ESA member state’s industry. It cooperation as well as to have a good map- is therefore in the interest of European indus- ping of potential suppliers. However, to get try to indicate to the `enlargement coun- involved in these candidate countries and the tries´ where to invest for the development of enlargement process a strong commitment their industry, in order to better harmonise within the companies is needed, as the po- the overall European industrial base. In addi- tential business volume might be small com- tion, enlarging the market with new indus- pared to other countries (also to states out- tries could produce a potential interest to side Europe) who might be more relevant for develop missing critical technologies and to strategic alliances for ESA programmes. reach the final aim of European Technology non-Dependency (ETnD). This is a very im- Several companies of ESA member states portant objective for overall European indus- have set up a dedicated organization in ESA try, considering that in an industry survey by future and recent member states. Telespazio, ESA, industry identified more than 100 items one of the world’s leading players in satellite under access restriction. 85% of these items services, for instance, is present in Hungary had issues, which have a strong or very with Telespazio Hungary and in Romania with strong impact on their procurement. Also Rartel S.A.237 In Poland, the biggest considering that export controls might be European space industry company, Astrium, more severe in the future, it is essential for and the major Polish research institute, the European industry to achieve an ETnD. Other Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy political reasons are the fact that most of of Science, created the joint venture Astri space activities are already performed at EU Polska, for running R&D activities and level in terms of budget and programmes. elaborating advanced technologies for space New and aspiring ESA member states are missions and ground systems. The AVIO now fully part of the decision-making process group has also established a subsidiary in of the European Space Policy, and of the Poland. Avio Polska comprises Avio with budget of Galileo and Copernicus. ESA, as 59%, WZL4 (Military Aircraft Works No.4) well as European space industry, have then with 40% and WAT (Polish Military Technical to actively ensure that these countries can Academy) with 1%. EADS Astrium has an- benefit from space activities. In other words, other subsidiary in the Czech Republic as it might be convenient for European industry well, Astrium Czech Republic s.r.o., which to “give them the appetite for space” 239 in was founded in September 2010 with the aim order to get their political support (for in- of providing a focus for representation of one stance concerning the budget of Galileo and of ESA’s major prime contractors in the politi- Copernicus). cal heart of a new ESA member state and supporting Czech national institutions in the scientific and industrial sectors to quickly 3.1.3 Academic Facilitators grow into the role of experienced partners for the principal European space players in ESA Universities and scientific institutions consti- projects238. Another example is Siemens, tute another important pillar for candidate which also has subsidiaries in Romania, Slo- countries. Having a consolidated academic vakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. system in the space area and qualified young aerospace scientists, engineers and techni- From a political point of view, it has to be cians should be an important goal for coun- firstly underlined that European industry will tries embarking on the path of ESA member- not necessarily see the enlargement of the ship. In this context, it could be useful to Agency with an increase in the level of intra- discuss the previously mentioned tool of fa- European competition. The new members will cilitators or mentors also in the education in fact specialise not in the whole range of sector. Experienced professionals or, again, space activities, but presumably in subsys- retired space experts may offer knowledge, tems, aiming at becoming a subcontractor of insight and resources to the mentee with the bigger industries. The development and pro- aim of assisting students and their transition from study to graduate work. The involve- 237 RARTEL S.A. is a Romanian-Italian joint venture and ment of such academic facilitators in aspiring provides turn key solutions in satellite technologies, using ESA member states would be different - and sate-of-the-art equipment with highest technological stan- complementary - to the Corporate Education dards. RARTEL has been present in the Romanian market Programme and the National Trainee Scheme since 1998. RARTEL has the ability to provide fixed and provided by ESA. mobile data, voice and video transmission services, In Orbit Control of the satellites and satellite imagery, all of the highest quality. 238 “About Astrium Czech.” 2013. Astrium Czech Republic 239 Maquet, Gilles. “Discussing Accompanying Processes.” S.R.O. 29 Oct. 2013
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In areas outside the space sector, mentoring while establishing relations between acade- programmes are already an important and mia and industry, would mobilise expertise well-established element in universities. As that is usually confined within academia it- mentioned above, space experts have long- self. Commercialisation-driven consulting, standing experience in many space thematic which aims at helping academics to commer- domains that can contribute to the further cialise their own technologies, would bring intensification and better organisation of the benefits also to industries. Companies might space education system. In concrete, their benefit as commercialisation might allow expertise could be beneficial for the estab- them to accelerate development along an lishment of specialised courses and PhD pro- already chosen path and spin-in technology. grammes as well as for strengthening ex- Finally, research-driven consulting enables change programmes with students and pro- companies to extend in-house research ca- fessors from universities of ESA member pacity and create emerging technologies.243 states or other aspiring countries. Further- more, it might increase awareness of the opportunities offered by ESA and, finally, 3.1.4 Institution-Oriented Mentoring Programmes support the creation of spin-offs. Inside the As shown in Chapter 2, the organisation of university environment, Professor- space activities in ESA aspiring member 240 Consultants could play a crucial role in states, as well as their respective space poli- creating relationships with national industry. cies and strategies, is currently in a process It is important, in fact, that industry and uni- of transformation and consolidation. Defining versity create a mutually beneficial relation- and implementing a coherent and effective ship, by cooperating in recruiting engineers space policy is an essential task for potential and technicians, creating innovation, develop future ESA member states, which may how- new technologies, products, etc. As under- ever lack the necessary space expertise. lined in a recent ESPI study, “the professor- Mentoring programmes could be a valuable consultant’s role as a part-time industry tool not only for industry and academia, but player improves the quality of the university also for supporting the institutions in charge itself and student experiences therein, bring- of space activities of ESA aspiring countries. ing practical knowledge and contemporary Through their deep and proven knowledge of business culture and practice into the aca- ESA (and European national space agencies) demic community. From an industry perspec- structures, decision making mechanisms and tive, knowledge flowing back into academia procedures at all levels, the mentors could from professor experience in the private sec- work together with the institutions of the tor will translate into producing better em- countries to define a clear long-term vision ployees in the future; theoretically, the pro- for space activities in the country and a con- fessor-consultant will prepare students to crete space policy. They could also give ad- work in a way relevant and actually tailored vice on how to better structure the institu- 241 to the industry.” tional framework for space activities and on Professor consultants usually have their main how to develop and implement a coherent jobs in industry, extramural research institu- space programme. tions, business or governmental agencies, This task, of course, cannot be carried out and hold only a part-time position as profes- only by external advisory bodies, since they sors at universities. Therefore, they bring might lack the necessary knowledge of the practical knowledge and business culture to political and socio-economic environment the academic world that improves the quality they have to work in. Indeed, the task would of a university and university-industry rela- be better achieved through efficient coopera- tionships in general. Furthermore, it helps tion between those facilitators and the na- shape student competency in accordance to tional institutions. industry’s needs so that they are better pre- pared with regard to labour market require- ments and able to find a direct path to em- ployment.242 Professor consultants could 3.2 Business Incubators work in all the three main types of academic consulting: opportunity driven, commerciali- One specific tool ESA is using to promote sation-driven and research driven. In the first technology transfer is that of incubators. In type of consulting, professor consultants, addition to being a business stimulus, incuba- tors could be considered as a facilitator of 240 For more information, see: Giannopapa, Christina, awareness raising on “space benefits” in the Peter Hulsroj, Arne Lahcen, and Nunzia Paradiso. “Space society and politics of aspiring ESA member and the Processes of Innovation.” ESPI Report 43 July 2012: 46-49. 241 Ibid. 242 Ibid. 243 Ibid.
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states, thus contributing to the achievement finance, strategic partnership and network- of broader public support for space activities. ing, as well as engineering support and ex- pertise from ESA experts and ESA recourses. It is well known that significant parts of space technology are being transferred to life- In concrete terms, ESA BICs provide selected improving and prosperity-enhancing terres- start-up companies with operational services trial applications: healthcare products, im- and know-how in a state-of-the-art technical proved waste management, water recovery environment. Aspiring countries could build etc. Manufacturers use space technologies to on this concept of business incubators by create and improve new and existing prod- establishing incubator programmes to sup- ucts that then provide industry and users port the industrial involvement in space. Of with a wider choice of reliable goods. This course, this would require a significant technology transfer reinforces European in- amount of investment but might be a poten- dustry by opening business opportunities for tial tool to prepare local industry for full providers of space technology, broadening membership in ESA and strengthen its com- their business area and thus improving their petitiveness. know-how and competitiveness. It further The way potential incubator programmes encourages the wider use and awareness of could work in ESA aspiring member states is, space technology and systems. Technology in a sense, the inverse: if space incubators transfer has less obvious benefits as well. It are usually intended to transfer and commer- maximises the return on investment in ESA’s cialise space technologies in non-space con- space research by its member states and texts, the lack of a consolidated base of minimises the duplication of research be- space technologies in the enlargement coun- tween the space and non-space sector, while tries would not make it a viable way. Indeed, providing cross-disciplinary opportunities for the procedure one can envisage involves the researchers to collaborate with other organi- creation of incubator programmes to bring sations. It provides economic potential and existing “terrestrial” technologies expertise motivation for both technology producers and into the space sector. The creation of such technology receivers where the social impact national incubator programmes could be ideal is high and the potential market is large. / profitable for non-space companies wanting Though some spin-offs and projects do not to expand into the space business as well as directly bring about concrete social and for start-ups. Technology transfers would in health benefits, they may still result in safety this way help reinforce national industry by benefits in specialized sectors; space tech- opening space business opportunities for nologies are used by the motor racing, sailing non-space industries, broadening their busi- and skiing communities. ness area and thus improve their know-how ESA’s Technology Transfer and Promotion and competitiveness. Start-ups as well are Office, now called the Technology Transfer intended to benefit from these programmes. Programme Office (TTPO), was established in In this case, it is worth noting that start-ups 1990 to facilitate technology transfer from could be set up to not only generate space space technologies to terrestrial applications technology, but, at the same time, to utilise and the commercialisation of such applica- the knowledge in non-space contexts, thus tions. The TTPO offers space-developed tech- bringing a number of safety benefits in spe- nologies to non-space companies, expanding cialized sectors. business for space industry and creating new Potential future ESA member states, by cre- business and jobs for non-space companies. ating such national business incubators, could This is supported through a network of tech- strengthen the competitiveness of their in- nology brokers who assess market needs in dustry. Encouraging the beneficial as well as areas where there is a potential for exploita- commercial use of technologies that in turn tion of space technologies. leads to innovative products and the genera- The ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA tion of new jobs within Europe would BICs) and the associated network, European strengthen industry. Space Incubators NETwork (ESINET) were set In order to achieve these objectives, a certain up in order to bridge the gap between ideas degree of cooperation with the current ESA and actual business. Currently, there are six framework would appear advisable. The such centres throughout Europe, designed to eventual involvement of the ESA Technology get space to non-space projects off the Transfer Programme Office does not imply ground and help them develop into viable that it is responsible for the creation of a space businesses. They support entrepre- dedicated space incubator programme in the neurs with operational services and know- ECS and the provision of a direct access to how in a technical environment, including the TTP for the ECS; the TTP Office would office space and shared facilities, assistant rather bring its expertise and provide its as- and business development support, access to
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sistance to the interested country in estab- institutions, operators, service providers lishing its own national programme, while (both terrestrial and space-related), as well facilitating the linkage and collaboration with as users and manufacturers. Furthermore, the European Space Incubators Network such interest groups can build the bridge (ESINET). necessary for successful integration into the space industry in Europe by not only While only ESA member States and PECS strengthening the relationship between the countries have access to this programme, EU participating states but also with ESA mem- member states not yet members of ESA could ber states. It would foster the dialogue and have access through the three-year strategic debate on space science and research with partnership between ESA and EBAN (as de- public institutions and the public audience. scribed in Chapter 2.3). From this partner- ship, start-up companies could benefit from extensive knowledge on space related market 3.3.1 Industry-Oriented Interest Groups trends and experience in financing space technologies. They could be able to identify The establishment of such an interest group new business opportunities and, as a conse- could be set up by for industry, both at na- quence strengthen their industry. It would tional and regional level. At national level an also contribute to the enhancement of the important example is the Czech Space Alli- know-how and competitiveness of providers ance, an SME association of 16 companies of space technology and systems. Ultimately, established in 2006 with the aim of helping ESA aspiring member states should, under its members win ESA industrial contracts in their own steam, seriously consider the case the Czech Republic. CSA has already proved for a space incubator programme as another to be beneficial for Czech industries. During initiative of primary importance for paving the PECS programme (2005 – 2008) CSA the way - among other benefits - to future members won 9 out of 12 industrial con- ESA membership. tracts, and after the accession to ESA they won 16 out of 23 industry contracts in the Czech Industry Incentive scheme, and 10 out 3.3 Interest Groups of 10 contracts in ESA´s international tender. While at national level some countries have Another useful instrument for candidate already started such initiatives (e.g.. Estonia set up a national ESA industrial interest countries could be the establishment of inter- 246 est groups, which could be set up by indus- group for Remote Sensing and ICT ), at regional level there are only informal initia- try, scientific institutions or by governments, 247 both at national and regional level. An impor- tives (i.e. the Baltic Space roundtable ). tant example of such an interest group is the Such groups could show the space potential NordicBaltSat (NBS) initiative244, which was of a dedicated region and create joint tech- launched by countries in the Baltic area with nology programmes, thus also providing op- the major aim of strengthening the relation- portunities for future cooperation and adhe- ship between ESA member and non-member sion to ESA. Although countries might be states as emerging space countries. A further interested in establishing groups, the ques- goal of the initiative was to better organise tion arises as to who takes the lead and will the coordination of dialogue across national manage a resulting group. The risk of a coun- space programmes and utilise the potential of try or a powerful industry monopolising the consortium partners (especially in Estonia, group could make this idea less appealing for Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) for a sustain- some countries. Nevertheless, as shown by able contribution to on-going and planned the example of the NordicBaltSat initiative, European space programmes245. The NBS the establishment of a grouping would make initiative has shown that the creation of in- it possible to achieve effective coordination of terest groups that have a geographical focus resources across national space programs in could be a powerful tool for countries to aspiring ESA member states. screen the space potential in this area, to build capacity, and to establish or intensify 3.3.2 Institution-Oriented Interest Groups cooperation between the states in a region and ESA. The NBS initiative could be general- The European Inter-parliamentary Space ised and countries could develop an open Conference (EISC) is another form of interest environment for ideas and information ex- group that could be of benefit to aspiring change in the whole value chain, for example countries. EISC was established in 1999 as a
244 For more information on the NordicBaltSat initiative: 246 Võõras, Madis. “Challenges and Opportunities for
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permanent forum aimed at fostering coopera- programmes for ECS countries only, where tion between national parliaments in Europe industry would be subject to regional compe- on space policy issues. Even though this tition, could be considered. group is a promising opportunity, from the One question is why set up a programme Eastern European region only the Czech Re- additional to the already existing quite sup- public, Romania, Poland and Estonia have portive framework? For ECS an ad-hoc pro- joined the forum. gramme already exists: PECS. There would, A grouping of parliaments, similar to EISC or however, be several differences from PECS. as a sub-group of EISC, specifically dedicated First, a dedicated optional programme for to aspiring ESA member states would be an- ECS countries would not only aim at reinforc- other interesting tool. National parliaments ing their space industry capabilities, but also can play an important role in increasing wider aim at preparing them for the ESA competi- public awareness and in formulating the di- tive environment. PECS provides only a lim- rections governments should to follow248. It ited amount of regional competition. The might facilitate the exchange of information establishment of an optional programme spe- on space activities and policies among coun- cifically dedicated to aspiring ESA member tries and strengthen existing cooperative states could be attractive because industry efforts. The establishment of a forum to ana- would have better chances to win the invita- lyse the major issues at stake would allow tions to tender, given the non-participation of aspiring countries to discuss common chal- ESA member states. At the same time, ten- lenges they are facing on the way to ESA ders would still be subjected to competition, membership and find new common tools to since the tender would be open to the indus- overcome these difficulties. The establish- tries of different countries. In this way, ment of such groupings does not necessarily through a limited regional competition, future have to be limited to parliaments. Other insti- ESA members could start to get prepared for tutional bodies, such as ministries, could use the high competition they will have to experi- this tool and create this type of interest ence once their country joins the Agency. group. A European Government Space Con- In addition, this initiative would give ference could be envisaged. ECS/Cooperation Agreement states another The establishment of such fora for analysing helpful opportunity that PECS alone cannot the major issues at stake in the European provide: the possibility of setting up regional space sector would allow aspiring ESA mem- consortia with other ECS industries and sci- ber states to discuss: entific institutions to ultimately respond to and participate in ESA Invitations To Tenders • How to face common challenges in join- (ITTs). In establishing regional consortia, ing ESA, also by finding new common aspiring ESA member states could gain ex- tools for overcoming such difficulties; perience of the procurement policy and regu- • How to best exploit the opportunities of- lations, they would get used to dealing and fered by space; cooperating with the industries of other coun- • How to build effective space policies tries, and to establishing agreements be- • How to better organise business in the tween primes and subcontractors. Other im- space sector; portant benefits include the fact that partici- • How to better promote education; pating states and industries would become • How to deal with ESA and its member more familiar with ESA standards and proce- states, etc. dures (for example how to deal with the ITT package, how to satisfy ESA evaluation crite- ria, etc.249) and would then be more effi- 3.4 Specific Optional ciently prepared for full membership. And since an optional programme would be in- Programme for Aspiring volved, to some extent countries would get Countries used to dealing with the intricacies of the geographical return system of ESA Over the years, ESA has enriched its path of Finally, an optional programme for aspiring cooperation in order to support countries in ESA member states might be an additional their process of accession to the Agency. intermediate step to bridge the gap between Nevertheless, other potential new initiatives PECS and Associate Member status or ESA in supporting enlargement might also be con- membership. As discussed above, when a sidered. For instance, setting up optional country joins the Agency it has to signifi- cantly increase its investment for space ac-
248 Ergma, Ene. “The Involvement of Parliaments.” Presen- tation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI, Vienna, Aus- 249 ESA Tender Evaluation Board (TEB). See The PECS tria. 23 Mar. 2012. Process.
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tivities. The provisions of Article XIII of ESA asked for funding. By this the return co- Convention require that member states pro- efficient would always be 1, and there vide for compulsory participation based on would be no challenge in terms of the national GDP to cover ESA general expenses geographical return system. and the mandatory scientific programme. It Existing ESA member states may, of course, goes without saying that boosting the space see problems with such approaches. New budget from the 1 Million Euro PECS contri- legal structures would have to be created, bution to the much bigger investment re- and industry from non-member states could quired by ESA membership or associate be seen as being favoured. However, such membership, can be highly challenging. In objections ignore that the ECS/PECS system that respect, a special optional programme already embodies exactly the same features. for ECS could be an optimal solution to By extending the system as mooted an addi- gradually increase a country’s involvement in tional layer would be created and activities ESA costs and programmes. would be increased, but ultimately this would However, the question of how to organised serve economic efficiency when the aspiring the financial contribution and the procure- states ultimately become member states. ment policy for such an optional programme From the perspective of existing ESA member must be addressed. There are several possi- states this would be an ‘investment’ in a bet- bilities within the existing framework250: ter, less complicated future. • The first possibility is that the method of procurement follows the normal proce- dure (for placing contracts) of open com- 3.5 Space-Based Applications petitive tenders, but in a restricted eco- nomic operators' market, namely that of for Economic Growth aspiring ESA member states. As for the “classic” optional programmes, these It is important to make space more and more special programmes could be open to all relevant for citizens and their daily life. Fo- ESA aspiring member states (both ECS cusing on space-based services would not and Framework Agreement countries) only help aspiring ESA member states in that then would decide whether they will promoting space activities and strengthening participate and with what level of in- awareness of space applications, but also in volvement. States could contribute to finding niche markets for and increasing the these programmes on a scale based on competitiveness of their industry. Space- their budgetary situation. These optional based services definitely have the potential of programmes could cover areas such as creating new business opportunities, espe- Earth observation, telecommunications, cially for Small and Medium Enterprises satellite navigation, space transportation (SMEs). The development of services and or space system components. applications is therefore an important chal- lenge and key to strategic and economic de- • An alternative method would be to set up velopment across Europe. a system where a potential ESA member candidate country participates in a previ- The downstream market has great potential ously-selected ITT, without having par- and represents the majority of the market ticipated in its funding. If the country’s value of the three main satellite activities economic operators taking part in the that are relevant for the development of tendering process award a contract, the space-based applications (satellite communi- country would then have to allocate the cations, navigation and Earth observation). funding before the signature of the con- Also, development costs and risks for space- tract. Obviously this would significantly based services are lower than for space sys- increase competition since the industry tems, as the development approach is de- of aspiring countries would have to win mand driven and the service market tends to contracts in competition with industry be of considerable size. To sum up, space- from all ESA member states. based services can support national policies. In addition, the service segment appears to • A third method which would be to ‘pay as be highly profitable and investment has usu- you go’, similar to the ARTES Pro- ally led to profits in a shorter period than the grammes. An optional programme could manufacturing sector. Satellite application be set up for aspiring countries, and only revenue is growing steadily, compared to when results of the competition are other market segments251, and, as shown in known would the country of origin be
250 See also, for instance, Article 13d of ESA Procurement 251 Hayward, Keith. “The Structure and Dynamics of the Regulations. Reference Document: European Space European Space Industry Base.” ESPI Perspectives 55. Agency. Procurement Regulations. Paris: ESA, 2008. Dec. 2011.
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Figure 25: Revenues shifting in the value chain252
Figure 25, rapidly shifting downstream in the novel and innovative solutions and services value chain. Also the barriers to entry are that previously were unimaginable. Inte- less strong and therefore, for ESA aspiring grated applications are thus already benefit- member states, the application market is the ing European industrial competitiveness, one that offers more opportunities (for start- while serving the needs of European societies ups, new clusters, etc). and global communities. However, investment in space-based applica- The list of projects and thematic areas is tions is still a long-term investment. One of constantly expanding. Recent activities of the the main problems in this respect is that the programme show the importance of innova- ESA geographical return system does not tive third party partnerships in order to fi- capture the downstream value added services nance space-based solutions as this kind of market, thus making it almost impossible for funding is becoming more and more attrac- this segment to assist in satisfying industrial tive due to the current economic situation return norms. Nevertheless, the value chain and the interesting way of sharing costs and of satellite applications has proven to be risks. This is particularly important to over- highly beneficial. come the so-called ‘valley of death’ - the transition from demonstration projects to Through the Integrated Applications Promo- operational services where many services die tion (IAP) programme, ESA supports the de- when the public funding ends. The IAP pro- velopment of new applications by using and gramme has already initiated partnerships integrating different space assets. The pro- with institutions such as the European Mari- gramme was established by the Ministerial time Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Council in 2008 and is trying to promote a Investment Bank (EIB), aimed at supporting new user driven approach, contrary to tradi- the development of new applications, ser- tional technology push programmes, in order vices and user-driven missions. to meet the needs and requirements of vari- ous users. The programme addresses the Only a few years after the launch of the pro- utilisation of space capabilities to create value gramme, IAP has already achieved a signifi- along the entire satellite applications value cant level of maturity with a considerable chain. IAP is already active in diverse applica- number of feasibility studies and demonstra- tion fields ranging from energy grid man- tion projects as well as some already opera- agement to aircraft safety (e.g. Bird Strike tional services. However, sustainable services early warning and risk reduction), facilitating need a critical mass of users and/or struc- tured user communities. Yet the majority of citizens are not aware of what space can do 252 Ginati, Amnon. “Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP). ESA Creating Value, Along the Value Chain.” Pres- for their daily life. In order to multiply the entation. Space for Civil Protection Workshop. ESPI, outreach to users and have a better overview Vienna, Austria. 5-6 May 2011.
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of markets outside of the traditional scope programme appears to be a good opportunity space activities, the ESA IAP programme is for the industry in new ESA member states to building a network of so called “Ambassador win projects, to develop operational services Platforms”. These platforms are hosted by and to gain experience in the competitive external organisations that have the neces- ESA environment. Aspiring countries can only sary expertise and networks to interface be- benefit from the IAP programme through the tween ESA and users of potential services. PECS programme. Nevertheless, there are Furthermore, Ambassador Platforms have the other possibilities to get involved in the pro- mandate to act as “honest brokers” between gramme such as, for example, end-users of ESA, potential users, service providers and future services can always participate in the other stakeholders who are interested in par- programme regardless of where they come ticipating in the IAP programme and thereby from. User communities like public institu- pave the way for partnerships. IAP Ambassa- tions can participate in ESA IAP projects as dor Platforms have a thematic and/or geo- potential end-users and therefore have the graphic framework. The latter is the case for possibility of gaining experience which they the Ambassador Platform for the Central and can pass to their industry or to integrate local Eastern European region which was estab- industry without receiving funding from ESA. lished to support the IAP programme by rais- Another possibility to participate in the pro- ing awareness and stimulating projects in the gramme is to become involved in activities region of Central and Eastern Europe. This through other ESA member states’ participa- platform is hosted by ESPI in Vienna. tion. This would help in developing a space industry and in promoting the benefits of Thus, the development of IAP applications is space related activities to the public. a considerable opportunity for increasing the market pull of existing space infrastructures. The market proximity and flexibility of the
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4. The Path Ahead: Conclusions and Recommendations
Since its establishment, ESA has been a pole ESA. In spite of the geo-return principle, the of attraction for all European countries wish- experience of many new member states ing to conduct space activities in a coopera- demonstrates that the ESA environment is tive and profitable manner. Thanks to its very competitive, its requirements exigent, geographical return principle, which provides its standards high and its “culture” tremen- ESA member states with industrial contracts dously complex. corresponding to the amount of their financial With the entrance of the EU in the already contribution, membership has been proven to complex framework of ESA relations with its offer many opportunities for European coun- members and aspiring members, a variable tries. has been introduced that will tremendously It was clear from the beginning that the dif- influence the future environment ESA mem- ferent European countries were not at the bers and aspiring member states will have to same level in terms of industrial capabilities work within. As a result, the enlargement in space. While some of them (e.g. Germany, process could also be affected. To date, ESA- France, the United Kingdom) were character- EU relations are far from being determined ised by economies of scale and advanced but it is clear that an eventual transformation space capabilities, others were just new en- of ESA would also seriously affect the possi- trants on the supply side of the space mar- bilities of European Cooperating States and ket. aspiring countries to gain advantages from ESA membership. As underlined in ESPI Re- To this end, from the beginning the ESA Con- port 46, it goes without saying that “the vention was not only designed to accommo- transformation of ESA into an EU agency, date the accession of new European member would imply abiding to EU rules and, in par- states, it was also designed to enrich the ticular, to the principle of ‘best value for Agency with new cooperative supportive money’ which very often provides many ad- mechanisms for new entrants. The historical vantages for bigger industries and few for evolution of the cooperative patterns cor- smaller ones.”253 roborates this assumption. In the history of the Agency, cooperation schemes have in fact Taking into consideration the analysis pro- been gradually modified and enriched with vided in chapter 2.2, several challenges will new steps and supporting measures aimed at be faced in the coming years by both ESA better harmonizing the integration process. recent and aspiring member states. In the In short, the ESA cooperation scheme has latter case, some countries still lack the nec- undergone a process of permanent restruc- essary expertise, not only in terms of techni- turing, aimed at better supporting the acces- cal and industrial capabilities but also on the sion of new member states. The 6-9 years policy side, which may in turn postpone their transitional measures, the creation of ECS access and constitute an impediment. status in 1999, the subsequent creation of Taking all this into consideration, this report the PECS programme and the launch of a has discussed the possibility of strengthening National Trainee Scheme, have all responded the current framework and introducing new to this logic. Despite the introduction of all tools to respond to the specific needs of dif- these supportive measures that were dis- ferent countries and subsequently enable cussed in detail in Chapter 2 of this report, them to achieve happiness within the ESA new entrants still have a hard time adapting family. Firstly, the role of business angels has to the ESA environment and its exigent re- been addressed with the aim of enlarging the quirements, due to the size of their economy, national industrial base through support for the state of their space industry and the past start-ups and spin-offs. Mentoring pro- low level of investment in the space sector. It grammes for industry, academia and institu- is anticipated that future members may find tions have been proposed with the objective similar difficulties. of strengthening industries, scientific institu- In this light, it is clear that, alongside ESA, tions and the capability of public stakeholders aspiring countries on their own have to define instruments and implement strategies to get 253 Paradiso, Nunzia. “The EU Dual Approach to both their industries prepared for winning work in Security and Space.” ESPI Report 45. Aug. 2013.
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respectively. The creation of Space Business build sustainable cooperation based on Incubators in aspiring ESA member states, strong fundamentals. has been discussed as a business stimulant 3. An efficient and mutually beneficial inter- and instrument of awareness raising for ob- play (within and) among the three pillars taining public and political support for space (institutions, academia, industries) has activities. Particular emphasis has been proved to be fundamental to optimizing placed on the possibility of establishing Inter- the use of resources and integrating est groups for industry and scientific institu- complementary capabilities and ideas. In- tions (following the NordicBaltSat example) ternal coordination (i.e. among the differ- or public institutions (following the example ent research institutions or different min- of EISC). Finally, new possible instruments istries involved in space activities, which for ESA have also been identified. In particu- usually have different visions and pur- lar, the idea of a specific optional programme poses) is a precondition for relating with for ECS countries was highlighted, where other national stakeholders and for the industry would be subject to limited competi- establishment of a “one voice” system tion. The possible pitfalls and limitations of all towards ESA and other possible interna- these measures have been underlined as tional partners. well. 4. Progressive budgetary consolidation ap- Based on all aspects discussed in the present pears to be compulsory for all aspiring report, various recommendations have been countries. As the analysis has shown, identified for the main actors involved in the with very few exceptions, R&D expendi- enlargement process: the aspiring member tures of ESA enlargement states are still states, ESA and the EU. low in absolute terms and their R&D in- tensity represents only half of the EU av- Recommendations for Aspiring ESA Member erage level of 2% and 1/3 of the target States level set in Horizon 2020. Despite the in- crease of recent years, the budget for Based on the experience of recent ESA mem- space activities in ECS are still too mod- ber states, the analysis of the current status est, while Framework Agreement coun- of the aspiring ESA Members in chapter 2.2 tries do not secure the necessary dedi- above, and on the conclusions of the ESPI cated budget. In order to avoid a too workshop on “ESA Enlargement”, several steep increase in financial involvement recommendations and actions for considera- when passing from the ECS status to full tion by ESA enlargement countries are of- membership, budgets should be gradually fered below. These are general or selected- enhanced. This will also bring policy- target actions that focus on three different makers into the arena in order to ensure levels: national, ESA and international. a predictable and stable environment of 1. At national level, the first recommenda- funding for long-term strategic activities. tion concerns the appropriate organisa- 5. The government itself, while focusing on tion and coordination of space activities. budgetary consolidation, should elaborate It is essential for most of the examined arguments for the investment in space countries – especially those that just re- activities and for ESA participation, and cently established cooperative links with present the benefits of this investment to ESA – to create a more specific frame- the wider public - especially in terms of work for space activities in their country. economic growth and services offered. The creation of a space agency is not in Raising public awareness (the creation of all cases a necessity, but a defined a case for space) and subsequent political framework for the coordination of space support are preconditions for investing in activities is indispensable. space. A main objective in this respect is 2. Concerning national space policies, a to develop an active and coherent public primary step is the elaboration of a na- information strategy, complemented by tional space plan that will be the basis for promotion activities at national and re- the decision making process and for de- gional scale. fining the national objectives of space ac- 6. Considering the size of the economies of tivities. A clear long-term vision as well current aspiring ESA member states and as mid-term objectives to ensure the ac- the limited financial resources, it is rec- complishment of the former needs to be ommended that they follow a niche strat- identified. In drawing up a national plan, egy by putting an emphasis on select space priorities have to be defined from both the government side and the side of industrial/scientific institutions in order to
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market opportunities.254 In particular, financial situation, capabilities and exper- small countries must carefully consider tise). their broad scientific priorities and focus 10. At international level, enabling keys are on the most promising fields. In this re- identified as developing cooperation with spect, it is important to bear in mind that international partners, both industry (i.e. being involved in the supply of space ser- establish prime-subcontractor relations vices offers much more growth potential with other industries, or encourage for- than on the manufacturing side. In this eign companies to invest in the space context, the ESA IAP programme has sector in ESA enlargement states) and proven to be a useful starting vehicle in public institutions (in sharing experience this domain. and looking for common means to meet 7. Given the shortage of young aerospace common needs), not only in regard to scientists, engineers and technicians in ESA activities. Regional and sub-regional many aspiring member states, the space- cooperation among CEEs should be fos- related academic system should be tered also through the development of strengthened and educational activities Interest Groups. Such groupings could be intensified and better integrated with the institution-oriented (like EISC) or indus- needs of the national industry and re- try-oriented, modelled for instance on the search institutions. The establishment of successful experience of NordicBaltSat. mentoring programmes or an institution 11. Active participation in the elaboration and of dedicated professionals such as profes- implementation of the ESP, in particular sor-consultants could be of great help in with the aim of fully utilising the opportu- realising these objectives.255 At the same nities offered by the EU flagship pro- time it is essential to motivate students grammes, Copernicus and Galileo, could to study and work in the fields of space be a priority. Having a common policy engineering, technology and science, also towards the EU to facilitate the manage- through their active participation and ex- ment of cohesion funds for space applica- periences in real space projects with in- tions as a very efficient mean for conver- dustry and research institutions. gence could also be considered. 8. Enterprises and research institutions 12. The creation of a dedicated space incuba- should encourage and support the estab- tor programme in ECS countries through lishment of Clusters and Technology Plat- active involvement and coordination be- forms. Especially for smaller countries tween the institutions in charge of space with very few big companies, the creation activities in ESA aspiring countries and of groups of interconnected companies their respective industries should be con- and associated institutions (e.g. faculties, sidered as another initiative of primary research centres, SMEs) in the space field importance. It is worth mentioning that offer, beyond research and market- the establishment of these incubator pro- oriented opportunities, the possibility of grammes within ESA enlargement coun- overcoming the lack of financial resources tries would work the other way round: and mobilizing a critical mass of national non-space technologies would be trans- public and private resources in order to ferred into the space industry. In this way bring tangible results in research and in- technology transfers would help reinforce novative technologies. As shown, other national industry by opening space busi- benefits of these networks include access ness opportunities for non-space indus- to specialized human resources, suppliers tries, broadening their business area and and knowledge. In addition, information thus improving their know-how and com- flow between the public administration petitiveness. This objective could be bet- and scientific/industrial institutions of the ter achieved by facilitating linkage and national space sector would be facilitated. collaboration between the newly estab- 9. In relations with ESA, on the one side it is lished Space incubators and the European necessary to promote and learn about the Space Incubators Network (ESINET). ESA complex (technical, administrative 13. Lastly, the possibility of offering mentor- and financial rules and procedures, activi- ing programmes for industry should be ties and programmes, courses, trainee- seriously explored. In some cases, ECS ships, etc) and on the other side to make already have a solid industrial base in ESA learn about the country (priorities, non-space related sectors that might be willing to expand into the space business. 254 Beyond reinforcing the industry, by creating a critical Providing space market experience, use- mass or by following a niche strategy, it is necessary to be ful networks and expertise is therefore a aware of ESA standards and understand “ESA culture”. primary requirement that could be met
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by the institutions responsible for space bly qualified workforce for ESA and the activities in the ESA aspiring countries European space sector in the future, it setting up such mentoring programmes. seems clear that this purpose is funda- They could be cost-effective solutions mental for aspiring ESA member states. that would be of great help for ECS. In In addition, looking to the current results the execution of such programmes col- of the programme, it is worth noting that laboration with already established firms the ESA education programme has al- and international initiatives (e.g. the Ini- ready produced remarkable results, which tiative on Space Promotion and Education were highly beneficial for ECS. Specific – ISPE) should be pursued. Through this education programmes could have great eventual international collaboration, men- potential for countries on the road to full toring programmes could be offered not ESA membership. Harmonisation with the only to industry, but also to support the education programmes provided within institutions of ESA aspiring members in the EU frame should be encouraged. Fi- defining and implementing a coherent nally, the possibility of leveraging this and effective space policy. programme in countries with only a Co- operation Agreement could be also con- Recommendations for ESA sidered. 4. ESA could also define new accompanying The aim of easing the process of rapproche- measures that would ease the way even ment to ESA is hard to achieve if the actions further for aspiring countries. The estab- of aspiring members are not complemented lishment of specific optional programmes by the equally important support of the for ECS countries where industry would Agency. Although ESA is already providing a be subject to limited competition should range of supportive measures, the establish- be considered. Such an initiative would ment of new tools should be considered. help the industry in aspiring countries to 1. ESA might consider reviving the Associate get better prepared for the competitive Membership as a further intermediate environment in ESA and to establish step in order to alleviate the significant partnerships between companies and in- budgetary step-increase when passing stitutions from these countries. from the ECS status to full membership. 5. Finally, the possibility of offering mentor- In this regard, it has to be remembered ing programmes to ECS should be seri- that the PECS programme has been in- ously explored by ESA as well. The provi- troduced because the Associate Member- sions of such mentoring programme ship status was seen as a too broad in- could be incorporated into the PECS volvement compared to the bare coop- scheme or, alternatively when signing the eration agreement. However, the same ECS agreement. could be said when passing from the ECS status to a full membership. The much bigger involvement required by full ESA Recommendations for the EU membership could therefore be mitigated Given the various benefits the EU would gain if Associate Membership would again be from ESA enlargement, the EU, alongside possible and would constitute a further ESA and its aspiring member states, could supporting measure in the path of rap- play a more active role in bringing forward prochement to ESA. the expansion process. 2. Some of the current mechanisms for co- 1. Specific mechanisms for supporting the operation and assistance for aspiring ESA enlargement process could be estab- members could be strengthened. Within lished, in close coordination with ESA. the new National Trainee Scheme, for in- Within the cohesion policy instruments, stance, opportunities are exclusively re- for example, a dedicated budget for the lated to scientific and technical subjects. development of space-based applications However, space policy issues are of es- could be secured (and managed through sential importance to ESA candidate an ESA-EU coordination group). The countries, and the Agency should con- ERDF and the ESF are financial instru- sider offering policy related trainee pro- ments of the EU that could be deployed in grammes as well. a space context. The particular goal of 3. The ESA education programme could be ESF, for example, is the creation of new leveraged more extensively in ECS coun- and qualitatively better jobs in the EU by tries and at the same time cross-fertilised co-funding regional, national and local with EU education programmes. Taking projects. Space leads to innovation and into consideration that the programme research and therefore could be key for aims to ensure the availability of a suita- the creation of new or better jobs.
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2. In addition, more specific education pro- best ideas on space. This could be a pow- grammes – possibly linked to those of the erful tool to stimulate young people and ESA– could be offered to ECS. to engage a broad segment of a popula- tion. Such platforms could be designed 3. The EU could fund traineeships for gradu- especially for youth in aspiring countries ates in the space field that would be exe- under the guidance of experts from Euro- cuted by and within ESA. Such trainee- pean institutions. ships could be offered particularly to young people of aspiring countries. 6. The EU could extend its regional initia- tives in promoting education and training 4. It is conceivable that the EU could start as a way to connect neighbour countries, nano-satellite projects focused on aspir- by building such a platform in the field of ing countries. By starting such projects, space for EU member states that are not the EU would support those countries in yet members of ESA. developing their space industry and pro- moting space to the public. Moreover, it 7. Awareness-raising initiatives (such as the would further facilitate the accession European Space Expo) could be strength- process of those countries to ESA. ened in ESA aspiring countries. 5. The EU could develop crowd-sourcing platforms or associated prizes for the
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List of Acronyms
Acronym Explanation A AFC Administrative and Finance Committee APCEE Ambassador Platform for Central and Eastern European Region ARTES Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems B BA Business Angel C CEE Central and Eastern Europe Copernicus-GMES Copernicus-Global Monitoring for Environment and Security COSPAR Committee on Space Research CSA Czech Space Alliance CSO Czech Space Office E EADS European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EAS Enterprise Estonia EBAN European Business Angels Network EC European Commission ECS European Cooperating State EDA European Defence Agency EISC European Inter-parliamentary Space Conference EMITS Electronic mail Invitation to Tender System EO Earth Observation ERDF European Regional Development Fund ESA European Space Agency ESA DG European Space Agency Director General ESA BICs ESA Business Incubations Centres ESAC European Space Astronomy Centre ESEO European Student Earth Orbiter ESERO European Space Education Resource Office ESF European Social Fund ESINET European Space Incubators Network ESMO European Student Moon Orbiter ESO European Southern Observatory ESP European Space Policy
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Acronym Explanation ESPI European Space Policy Institute ESRIN European Space Research Institute ESTEC European Space Research and Technology Centre ESTPs European Space Technology Platforms ESTMP European Space Technology Master Plan ETnD European Technology non-Dependence EU European Union EUMETSAT European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites F FDI Foreign Direct Investment FFG Austrian Research Promotion Agency FP7 Seventh Framework Programme G GBAORD Government Budget Appropriations or Outlays on Research and Development GDP Gross Domestic Production GENSO Global Educational Network for Satellite Operations GEO Group of Earth Observation GMES Former acronym for: Global Monitoring for Environment and Security GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System GSA European GNSS Agency GSTP General Support Technology Programme H H2020 Horizon 2020 HLSPG High Level Space Policy Group HSB Hungarian Space Board HSO Hungarian Space Office I IAF International Astronautical Federation IAP Integrated Applications Promotion ICT Information and Communication Technology IMSWG Inter-Ministerial Space Working Group (Lithuania) ISPE Initiative on Space Promotion and Education ISS International Space Station ISU International Space University ITT Invitation To Tender (ESA) ITU International Telecommunication Union L LSA Lithuanian Space Association
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Acronym Explanation N NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NBS NordicBaltSat NMS New Member State NTS National Trainee Scheme P PECS Plan for European Cooperating State POLSA Polish Space Agency PRODEX Programme de Développement d'Expériences scientifiques PSO Polish Space Office R REXUS/BEXUS Rocket & Balloon Experiments for University Students R&D Research and Development ROSA Romanian Space Agency RRC ROSA Research Centre RTD Research Technology and Development S SAC Space Affairs Council SAS Slovak Academy of Science SITA Science, Innovation and Technology Agency (Lithuania) SME Small to Medium Enterprise SOSA Slovak Organization for Space Activities Space-SI Slovenian Centre of Excellence for Space Science and Technologies SRC Space Research Centre (Poland) SSA Space Situational Awareness SSTI Space Science and Technology Institute (Lithuania) STAR Space Technology and Advanced Research Programme (Romania) T TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union TP Technology Platforms TTPO Technology Transfer and Promotion Office U UN United Nations UN COPUOS United Nations Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation V VHTP Ventspils High Technology Park (Latvia)
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Annex
Agreement Committee as well, for EU countries that have not yet reached ECS A.1 ESPI Workshop “ESA status? • Should industry in aspiring countries set Enlargement” up national or regional ESA industrial in- terest groups? Should scientific institu- A.1.1 Background and Rationale tions? • Should parliaments from these countries With the accessions in the last few years of have a grouping similar to EISC, but for the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland ESA non-member states only? (November 2012)256, the scene has been set • Can the ESA education programme be for the gradual enlargement of ESA by all the leveraged also in countries with only a Member States of the EU not yet members of Cooperation Agreement; can it be lever- ESA, bringing the total membership to 30 in aged more extensively in ECS countries; the medium term (EU28 plus Norway and and can it be cross-fertilised with EU Switzerland). In light of this recent and up- education programmes? coming ESA expansion, it is important to • Is there a case for a space incubator investigate whether or not aspiring member programme in ECS countries (i.e. beyond states have the necessary tools to integrate PECS) and perhaps even for Cooperation their industries and scientific institutions into Agreement countries? ESA’s highly competitive environment. • Would it be possible to set up an optional programme for ECS countries only, Experience shows, in fact, that despite the where industry would be subject to re- deliberate pace and the various supportive gional competition only? Could this also measures offered by ESA, new member embrace Cooperation Agreement coun- states have had a hard time adapting to the tries? Agency’s environment and its exigent re- • Should a mentor programme be estab- quirements. Compared to other entrants, the lished where seasoned executives (and Czech Republic has had an easier time, but others perhaps) would make themselves Romania is facing real structural issues and available to small and even large firms Poland will have to manage a steep increase relevant for space in these countries? in involvement, because of the size of its • How would it be possible to overcome economy and the relatively modest invest- the problem of the ESA geographical re- ments through the PECS scheme. turn system not capturing the down- Given the existing quite supportive frame for stream value added services market, rapprochement to ESA there are questions as making it impossible for this segment to to how the current tools can be deployed by assist in meeting industrial return national stakeholders in the best possible way norms? and questions as to whether such stake- In order to discuss such issues, ESPI organ- holders on their own can define further ac- ised a workshop entitled “ESA Enlargement – companying measures that would ease the What interested countries can do to prepare way even further for aspiring countries. themselves for ultimate accession”, which Questions that need to be addressed in this took place on 23 March 2012 at its premises context include: in Vienna. The objective of the workshop was • The role of sub-regional cooperation. Is to set up a discussion platform to elaborate there a basis for creating an ‘ESA inter- on the process to facilitate the participation est group’ for Baltic countries, for in- of new member states in ESA. Furthermore, stance? it aimed to address the difficult transition • For ECS there is already a coordination from non-member state to member state, mechanism through the PECS Commit- including measures aspiring states can take tee. Should there be a Cooperation to help industry and scientific organizations survive in the competitive environment of ESA. The event saw the participation of a 256 At the time the workshop took place, Poland was not number of personalities from ESA as well as yet a Member of ESA.
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from recent and aspiring member states, tion) and the importance of learning about underlining the relevance of the issue for the ESA and setting priorities. He also empha- future of Europe in space. The International sised the importance of supporting and mak- Cooperation Program, PECS program, the ing investments in technology, in getting Education Office, and representatives of the organized and speaking with one voice. For Integrated Applications Promotion pro- ESA aspiring countries it is particularly impor- gramme represented ESA. Additionally, rep- tant to establish and maintain a national resentatives from the business sector and the space programme, by preparing the country’s space industry as well as delegates from the institutions and by finding and securing na- following countries attended the workshop: tional funding. The national strategy states a Austria, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, country’s direction and should be revised and Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slo- adapted several times. vakia. The keynote address, given by Ene Ergma, ESPI Director Peter Hulsroj, together with the gave an overview of the role of parliaments in Head of the Aeronautics and Space Agency of supporting national space activities. After the Austrian Research Promotion Agency outlining the relevance of this sector for pur- (FFG), Harald Posch, welcomed the partici- suing military activities, research, and eco- pants to the workshop. The keynote address nomic benefits, Ms Ergma emphasised the was given by Ms. Ene Ergma, President of the existence of a new fourth dimension: educa- Parliament in Estonia and Chairperson of the tion. This important dimension is a tremen- Estonian Space Committee, who talked about dous input for students, as space may in fact the involvement of parliaments. Afterwards, become a stimulus to motivate students to speakers from ESA addressed the strategic study scientific disciplines, a bridge on the elements of ESA expansion and the develop- young people’s path to natural and exact ment of space-based sustainable services. science and technology. Furthermore, Ms. The morning session of the event was con- Ergma emphasized the importance of parlia- cluded with a discussion on accompanying ments in supporting and benefiting from the processes, where four speakers presented development of space activities. It is essen- the role of space industry as well as the idea tial that parliaments are ready to support of mentoring programmes and the concept of new technological trends, to inform the business angels. The afternoon session fo- broader public of the societal benefits of cused on the opportunities and challenges for space-based services, to keep up awareness, non-member states. High-ranking space rep- and to uphold sustainability of development. resentatives from 8 different CEE countries In this context, the European Inter- (member as well as non-member states of parliamentary Space Conference (EISC) ESA) provided their knowledge and experi- should play an active role in encouraging ences on the adaptation and past accession parliaments and governments of countries processes respectively. In the course of the that have not yet started to deal with space following roundtable discussion they reviewed issues. It should invite representatives of the their national status and strategies. The pro- parliamentary committees of all EU member gramme of the event is at Annex A. states dealing with education, research and innovation to its annual conferences. A.1.2 Summary of Keynote Speeches A.1.2.1 Session 1: Boundary Conditions The workshop comprised three main sessions covering the topics: In the first session of the workshop, speakers from ESA addressed the strategic elements of • Boundary conditions, which aimed at dis- ESA expansion and the development of sus- cussing possibilities and measures for tainable space-based services. aspiring ESA member states offered by the Agency The session was opened by Anabelle Fonseca, • The accompanying process representing the ESA International Relations • Opportunities and challenges for non- Department, who illustrated the ESA system member states leading to accession. After presenting the recent steps taken by ESA toward EU mem- In his opening remarks, Harald Posch pro- ber states not part of the Agency, (in particu- vided an overview of the national strategy lar their nomination as observers in October and space activities in Austria as well as ad- 2011 and the National Trainee Scheme), she vice for new CEE countries. He stressed the defined the boundary conditions and proce- need to clarify the reason for becoming in- dures leading to ESA accession, explaining volved in space (generating benefits for soci- that a formal request must first be sent by a ety, economic benefits, science issues offered country to start the co-operation. Ms. to the scientific community – knowledge Fonseca explained that ESA has recently based economy, space as an area of inspira-
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started negotiations with Bulgaria. Finally, federate their demand so as to obtain the she illustrated the current status of ESA co- critical mass to enable sustainable services. operation with CEE countries and explained IAP services address a broad range of appli- the final aim of becoming a “happy” Member cation domains and Mr. Mancini stressed the of ESA. fact that the prerequisite to achieving a suc- The PECS Office Manager, Bernard Zufferey, cessful IAP programme is a successful addressed in a more specific way the issues awareness programme, which can be realised related to the Plan for European Cooperating also thanks to the established network of so States. He firstly presented the historical called IAP Ambassador Platforms. The con- background, from PRODEX as a first tempo- cept of Ambassador Platforms was introduced rary cooperating tool with ESA to a two-day to bridge the gap to areas outside the tradi- workshop in Budapest in 1999 organised by tional scope of space activities. Therefore, ESA and HSO that aimed at analysing exist- these platforms are hosted by external or- ing relations between ESA and its partners in ganisations that have the necessary expertise CEE. The main conclusion of this event was and network to interface between ESA and that the step between present co-operation stakeholders of potential services. An IAP agreement and full membership was far too Ambassador Platform has a regional or the- big for CEE countries, which finally led to the matic focus (or a combination of both) and establishment of the PECS programme. Sub- the mandate to inform users of the opportu- sequently, he focused on the two key objec- nities available within the IAP programme, to tives of PECS: to associate ECS participants collect their needs, and to encourage the with ESA programmes and activities, and to involvement of all relevant service stake- prepare them in the most efficient manner for holders. possible future accession. The areas covered The development of a space capacity is es- by the Plan were illustrated subsequently. sential for the development of space-based Given the difficulties encountered by many applications, which he defined as “access to a countries with the PECS procedures, particu- coherent set of know-how, industrial capacity lar emphasis was given on the new PECS Call and infrastructure, and the maintenance and for Proposal and Invitation to Tender proce- continuous improvement of this competitive dure. Calls for proposals are made according technical infrastructure”. The specificities of to the standard ESA procedures, including the European capacity are that it has a high level use of EMITS, in order to make the ECS more of integration and is becoming a symbol of familiar with the Agency. Furthermore, the European identity; it is based on civilian pub- importance of having a national space pro- lic efforts more then military; and it is still gramme and a kind of framework space pol- very vulnerable, given its dependency on the icy was emphasised during the presentation. commercial environment and the lack of Pierluigi Mancini, Head of the Awareness and technological independence in certain critical Feasibly Studies Division in the Directorate of areas. The achievement of this European Telecommunication and Integrated Applica- capacity is a precondition for the design, de- tions of ESA, talked about the development velopment and operation of space-based of sustainable space-based services as an applications. The presentation highlighted opportunity for aspiring countries. The focus that the development of IAP applications was placed on the Integrated Application presents a considerable opportunity for in- Promotion (IAP) programme (ARTES 20) and creasing the market pull of existing space the opportunities for economic growth offered infrastructures. by space applications and services. He The Head of the Education and Knowledge started the presentation by showing how Management Office of ESA, Hugo Maree, applications, as the bridge between the world gave a presentation on the ESA corporate of End Users and the world of Technology, education programme, which highlighted the represent the ultimate good for which end role education plays in supporting ESA users are “willing to pay the bill”. The IAP enlargement. He emphasised that even if ESA programme supports the development of new is not an educational institution, education is applications by utilising and integrating dif- also included in the Agency Convention as ferent space assets, resulting in improved or part of ESA mandatory activities. It is an new services for citizens on a regional, Euro- important element of the European Space pean and global scale. The programme does Policy and of Space Council Resolutions as not push any particular technology, but re- well as a major objective of the Europe 2020 sponds to user needs. Following its user- strategy. Education can use space as a theme driven nature, the main focus of the IAP pro- to enhance the literacy of young people in gramme is to set up relationships with user science and technology, and to motivate communities in order to collect their require- young Europeans to pursue a space related ments for new (or improved) services and to career. Given the strong lack of interest by
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young people, it is essential to focus also on by CubeSats, which is an ESA educational teachers. Therefore, a major objective of the space project in collaboration with European Education programme is to offer tailored sup- universities. It provides university-level stu- port for teachers to meet the very diverse dents with the unique opportunity to gain sig- needs of 20 member states. Beyond the dif- nificant practical experience in the full lifecycle ferent languages there is, in fact, a variety of of a real space project. As also mentioned in educational systems and a very large audi- Chapter 2 of the present report, thanks to the ence. This support is implemented exclusively CubeSats project Romania, Hungary and Po- through institutional partnerships (co- land succeeded in launching their first satellite funding), mainly with Ministries of Education. on the VEGA maiden flight on 13 February 2012. Furthermore, many universities across Other important objectives of the education Europe have been able to build real satellites. programme are to provide university students with practical experience in real space-related Finally, Mr. Maree presented the current re- projects through hands-on opportunities; to sults of the ESA Education programme. Since support the academic development and career 2000, about 3900 students from all ESA Mem- prospects of postgraduate students in member bers and Cooperating States have been in- states; and to inform and inspire teachers and volved. Development, testing and operation of students through a variety of initiatives. There flight and ground hardware and software have are a number of activities that have the aim of been realised. An important mentoring oppor- ensuring the availability of a qualified work- tunity has been given by ESA/industry experi- force for ESA and the European space sector enced staff, which also provided familiarisation in the future, by providing university students with the space projects standards of the with their “first” practical experience in real Agency. Finally, many Masters and PhD theses space projects. These projects deal, for exam- were produced in the course of these projects ple, with micro and hyper gravity activities and for many students their participation was (“Fly Your Thesis”, “Drop Your Thesis” and the first step towards a successful career. To “Spin Your Thesis”), microsatellites (ESEO), conclude, in 2011 alone, a total of 485 stu- nano-satellites (CanSats), rocket and balloon dents from European countries took part in experiments (REXUS and BEXUS). Among the ESA’s tertiary education projects (as shown in hands-on opportunities a major role is played Figure 26).
Figure 26: Participation of European students in ESA’s tertiary education projects257
257 Marée, Hugo. “ESA Corporate Education Programme.” Presentation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI, Vienna, Austria. 23 Mar. 2012.
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The first session of the ESPI workshop was tivities undertaken by 3AeF, as well as the concluded with a presentation by Fernando early results and the potential of ISPE. In Maura, Head of the ESAC Human Resources 2009, 3AeF decided to explore how to better Service. The presentation provided an over- structure the participation of retired ESA staff view of the new national trainee scheme, volunteers to contribute to space promotion presented by ESA DG in May 2011. Mr. Maura activities. Informal contacts were first estab- firstly explained the mechanisms, purposes lished with specific relevant organizations and benefits this initiative may deliver. The including ISU (International Space Univer- national trainee scheme is funded by national sity), UNESCO, Eurisy, and IAF as well as entities and provides an opportunity for engi- with ESA internal departments (dealing with neering and science graduates from non-ESA promotion, education, and communication) at member states to receive on-the-job training Headquarters, ESTEC and ESRIN. Positive in space technologies for 12 months. In con- replies were received but more detailed in- crete, the main objectives are: to help meet formation on the type of support/expertise national space industry needs of skilled staff, that could be made available was needed. to support effective cooperation with ESA by Therefore, in 2010 a questionnaire was sent creating links, and to increase ESA aware- to all retired ESA staff in France with the ness. He subsequently stressed the fact that, objective of identifying interested volunteers despite the numerous benefits and although in different thematic domains (EO, space 30 training opportunities were available in science, launchers, space station, etc.) and 2012, non-ESA EU Members had not yet the possible types of contribution (general signed any agreement. For this reason, two and/or specialized presentations, tutoring, discussion points were raised: what can be support for the production of education mate- done to speed up the process, and what can rial) as well as to get information on possible ESA do to help in this respect? constraints (geographical, travel, calendar, languages, time availability, etc.). Several positive replies were received coming essen- A.1.2.2 Session 2: Discussing Accompanying tially from French, Belgian and Italian retir- Processes ees. Furthermore, four domains emerged: In the second session of the ESPI workshop Earth observation, space science, space sta- on “ESA Enlargement”, accompanying proc- tion and microgravity, as well as spacecraft esses for supporting aspiring member states engineering and ground segment. Only a few were discussed. Industry and investment replies were related to telecommunications, representatives expressed their views on the navigation and launchers. enlargement process in the coming years and Official contacts were established in early what initiatives could be taken in order to 2011 with interested partners (ISU, IAF, facilitate and support the rapprochement UNESCO) and ESA internal education de- cycle and to achieve “happiness within the partments. In May 2011 ISPE also met with ESA family”. the communication and education depart- The session was opened by Guy Duchossois, ments of ESA to discuss concrete activities former ESA Earth Observation Satellites Mis- and possible schemes/conditions for support- sion Manager, who explained the Initiative on ing activities. Concrete support was provided Space Promotion and Education (ISPE) of to ESA for the drafting of education material 3AeF, an association of approximately 200 in December 2011. In the same year, a part- retired ESA staff members that aims at con- nership was launched with the IAF Secretariat ducting space promotion activities. He ex- for their project “e-mentoring SpaceMatch”, plained that there is, in fact, a large number where six ISPE members interacted with stu- of ESA retired staff or space industry retirees dents and young professionals from Australia, that possess wide experience and expertise in Asia, South Africa and Europe mostly for ca- space technologies and sciences. Many of reer guidance and for university projects. them are often asked to participate, or have In 2012, 3AeF offered support to the ISU in expressed their interest in participating in the the context of their contract with the EC for promotion of space on a “hobby” or part time the evaluation of the space potential of Baltic basis. The modalities of their involvement countries that had recently joined the EU. and the concrete activities they can perform vary and are directed to very diverse audi- On 16 February 2012 a successful meeting ences (primary and secondary school, univer- with ESA management (DG and Head of sities, non-space associations, governmental Cabinet) was held in Paris to identify concrete and public departments, scientific institu- activities (e.g. support for large ESA events) tions, etc). and modalities for ISPE involvement. In gen- eral, any support is on a free-of-charge basis Following some background information, Mr. except if travel/accommodation is involved Duchossois showed the evolution of the ac- which in this case will be reimbursed accord-
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ing to ESA rules. For the future, there are (budget estimation for all new member states already plans to expand the French ISPE ini- for 2020 is about 170 Million Euros), and tiative to other associations of ESA retired other countries might be more relevant for staff, for example, in Germany, Netherlands, strategic alliances for ESA programs. The Italy, and the UK (in total there are around market attractiveness of these states has to 600 persons of whom possibly 10% would be be compared with other export possibilities interested in contributing, which would lead outside Europe. In addition, local industries to a “reservoir” of some 50-60 experts). are not yet “ready for space” and supervision is necessary. Gilles Maquet, former Astrium Senior Vice President, drew attention to the role of Euro- In his conclusions, Mr. Maquet provided four pean space industry in accompanying the strong recommendations258: ESA enlargement process. In particular, he 1. Space priorities should be clearly defined investigated the reasons why the space in- from on government side (and the same dustry could be willing to contribute to the on the industrial side) to build sustainable enlargement process, how the space industry cooperation on strong fundamentals; would act to accompany these processes and 2. To be involved in the supply of Space what the main problems are. Concerning the services offers much more growth poten- first point, he identified political and industrial tial than on the manufacturing side as it reasons (for further details see the Section is the EU priority and where the money on “benefits and costs of ESA membership” of is. Thanks to its application programmes, the present report). There can be quite dif- ESA is an ideal vehicle to start in this ferent methods of industry’s engagement in domain; ESA enlargement, given the fact that each 3. It is important to have a common policy company has its own strategy and the con- towards the EU to facilitate the use of tent and implementation of such strategy is Cohesion Funds for space applications as “confidential industry”. In general, a first a very efficient means for convergence; priority is always to select the targeted coun- 4. For aspiring countries it is important to tries and to set up a dedicated light organisa- be patient and maintain motivation, as tion. space solutions are part of their future. In order to support the enlargement of ESA, Chiara de Caro, General Manager of EBAN, industry could trigger dedicated workshops to gave a presentation on Business Angels and discuss procurement policy and to identify the contribution they could potentially offer in areas for cooperation with other industries sustaining ESA enlargement. Business Angels and institutions. In this context, it is essential are defined as individual investors, directly to have a good mapping of potential suppliers investing their own money predominantly in and a personalised selection of preferred seed or start-up companies, with a medium companies. Equally important are the devel- to long-term timeframe. They are ready to opment of a local footprint through joint ven- provide, on top of their individual investment, tures, to be partner in a local industrial base, follow up strategic support to entrepreneurs to associate local partners in EU projects from investment to exit. Business Angels are (Horizon 2020, Cohesion Funds), and to keep usually grouped in networks, “private or close contacts with ESA experts in order to semi-public bodies, whose aim is to match monitor the geo-return constraints. Finally, entrepreneurs looking for equity with busi- industry should try to have a focal point to ness angels”259. Within Europe, the most make things easier for local players. important organization is EBAN, the European Several problems may however rise. From an Trade Association for Business Angels, which internal point of view, it has to be considered reaches out to 300 groups, 20.000 angels that creating a long-term partnership re- and 40.000 entrepreneurs. The added value quires more time than usual. There are con- of EBAN is that it increases supply and de- cerns from engineers (risk adverse) to move mand for angel investments. from one existing supplier to a new one, Several events and congresses have already since they tend to stay in the current supply been organised by Business Angels in the chain. The same difficulty is encountered CEE region. In addition, in 2010 EBAN started when a transfer of some in-house capability to collaborate with ESA’s Technology Transfer to a new industrial partner is requested. Programme Office (TTPO) through a three- Therefore, a strong commitment within the company is needed (e.g. clear definition of concrete projects & work packages that can 258 Maquet, Gilles. “Discussing Accompanying Processes.” be done in collaboration with local partners). Presentation. ESA Enlargement Workshop. ESPI, Vienna, Concerning external problems, it has to be Austria. 23 Mar. 2012. 259 mentioned that new member states’ potential De Caro, Chiara. “Business Angels.” Presentation. Workshop on ESA Enlargement. ESPI, Vienna, Austria. 23 business volume is recognised as small Mar. 2012.
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year strategic partnership. The objective of future development, in 2013 the official this partnership is to support ESA’s approach Czech National Space Agency was to be es- to European early stage investors as a pro- tablished, replacing the Ministry of Transport vider of quality and exclusive deal flow in the in the coordination of Czech space activities. space technology sector and collaboration It is important to clearly define who should between incubators and Business Angel net- be responsible for space in the national con- works. Ms. De Caro concluded that Business text as well as to have one point of contact Angels and EBAN could therefore be an excel- and one point of decision making. Mr Dobes lent instrument for helping CEE countries in finally raised the question of the importance enlarging and advancing their industrial ca- of space and the need to have full political pabilities. support (from government, Parliament and At the end of the second session of the ESPI industry) and to encourage public awareness workshop, Bernd Litzka, Programme Manager for the development of space activities. at the Austrian Wirtschaftsservice, presented Marius-Ioan Piso, President and CEO of the the Austrian network of Business Angels, Romanian Space Agency, presented the called i2. The network was created in 1997 framework of Romanian space activities (in and is in close contact with other Business particular of ROSA) and the process leading Angel networks and also a member of EBAN. to full ESA membership. He identified three In fact, i2 is a matching service where Busi- important priorities for the national space ness Angels can find promising start-up com- policy: industry should establish correlations panies that are looking for capital as well as with national governmental RTD pro- experience. Mr. Litzka also provided an over- grammes; longer term programmes have to view of how angels work and their motiva- be launched with the aim of capacity building tions. Furthermore, he underlined that the at national level; and a toolbox for govern- concept of Business Angels could present a ments should be developed. good opportunity for aspiring countries on their way to ESA rapprochement. In his presentation Mr. Piso mentioned that space investments in the former socialist countries are much lower than the EU aver- A.1.2.3 Session 3: Opportunities and Challenges age and that the industry should act as the for Non-Member States major actor for space sector development in The third session of the ESPI workshop was the new ESA member states. In his conclud- dedicated to the opportunities and challenges ing remarks, Mr. Piso also underlined that the encountered by recent and future member discussion on legal accession procedures was states on their road to ESA membership. not easy and that it is difficult to convince the Highly ranked space representatives from government to invest more in ESA as well as eight different states (Czech Republic, Roma- to engage with industry. nia, Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithua- Anna Nalecz-Kobierzycka, Chief Expert in the nia, and Slovak Republic) accepted the invita- Innovation and Industry Department of the tion to talk about the experiences of their Polish Ministry of Economy, illustrated the countries. opportunities and challenges for non-member The Czech Republic perspective was ad- states from the Polish perspective. The pres- dressed by Karel Dobes, Government Com- entation focused on the lessons learned by missioner of the Czech Ministry of Transport. Poland with the PECS programme. She un- Mr Dobes firstly described the space sector in derlined that new PECS procedures are quite the Czech Republic before accession to ESA complicated but useful for aspiring ESA Mem- as well as the milestones of the process lead- bers, since they are closer to the actual ESA ing it to be the first CEE country to join ESA. rules and are a good way “to force” national In illustrating the Czech organisation of space entities to use EMITS. In this light, more pre- activities, he described the difficulties en- paratory workshops with ESA experts are countered and the differences among the necessary, and more promotion activities at Czech institutions in the perception of space. national scale needed. The establishment of a In particular, a major problem was to find a national “advisory service” (dealing with non- common strategy and inputs to the competi- ESA related issues, national law, etc) should tiveness of Czech space activities within the be also considered. ministries. There was no common under- Ms. Nalecz-Kobierzycka identified three levels standing of space among different ministries of operation for better utilising the “potential as, for example, the Ministry of Transport and of space”: national, ESA and international. At the Ministry of Trade wanted space to be a national level, scientific and industrial plat- more business and political-related issue, form/chamber associations could be very while the Ministry of Education pursued a helpful as the information flow between the more science-oriented approach. Concerning public administration and national space sec-
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tor would be facilitated. Raising awareness with ESA. An ESA technical audit in 2010 and promotion of space activity (creating a accredited the country as having an industry case for space) are necessary as well. Finally, with technical capabilities relevant to space education and promotion of students’ activi- and identified at least seven potential PECS ties and projects have to be pursued. At ESA projects. The Latvian space strategy builds on level, it is necessary on the one side to pro- four main pillars: creating an institutional mote and learn about the ESA complex of framework and ensuring coordination in rules and procedures (from the technical, space, improving the specialist level in space, administrative and financial points of view, ensuring the participation of researchers in activities and programmes, courses, trainee- international space projects, and ensuring the ships, etc) and on the other side to make ESA participation of industries in international learn about the country (priorities, financial space projects. Mr. Karolis pointed out that situation, capabilities and expertise). Finally, Latvia intents to become a full ESA member at international level key goals are to develop state in 2018. cooperation with international partners, share In this context, Mr. Karolis also gave an the experience and look for common means overview of the main obstacles and difficul- to meet common needs (not only for ESA ties Latvia is facing in getting closer to the activities). At the end of her presentation, Agency. In particular, he emphasised low Ms. Nalecz-Kobierzycka underlined that in- public awareness, low business and research formation is key for success and is needed at activity, insufficient R&D and the lack of ac- all levels. cess and experience in international supply Madis Võõras, Head of Space Office in Enter- chains of the space industry. He subsequently prise Estonia, highlighted space governance addressed the issue of sub-regional space and policy in Estonia and its relationship with cooperation by showing the successful exam- ESA. He, provided an overview on the time- ple of NorBalticSat and presenting the future line of cooperation between Estonia and ESA, joint initiatives. These include a Common starting with the first consultations in 2006 GMES service platform, the joint satellite and the signature of the cooperation frame- project Cube 50, training initiatives, and co- work agreement with ESA in June 2007 to the operation among space-related enterprises signature of the PECS Charter in November on the basis of projects. 2010. Mr. Võõras also explained the plans for Vidmantas Tomkus, Director of the Lithuania further accession to the Agency that will start Space Association, focused his presentation with negotiations at the beginning of 2014 on the opportunities and challenges related to and should be completed with accession to both up- and down-stream services. Among the convention after the end of the ECS the challenges for downstream services he Agreement, at the end of 2015. emphasised that small countries with well- The idea of creating sub-regional cooperation developed transport and telecommunication through an ESA interest group for Baltic infrastructure do not see evident advantages countries was then addressed, underling its from using satellite communications and EO potential benefits but also pitfalls concerning data instead of aerial monitoring, wireless the management of such an undertaking. ground sensors, and terrestrial networks for Other potential instruments for easing the data transmission respectively. In addition, enlargement process of ESA, such as the idea the relatively high price of high resolution of a space incubator programme or the ex- radar images limits the commercialisation of tension of the ESA Education programme for EO services. Satellite services are comple- countries with a Cooperation Agreement, mentary to services provided by ground sen- were also welcomed in the Estonian perspec- sor networks and aerial observations. With tive. In this light, Mr. Võõras underlined that regard to challenges in the upstream sector, for an ECS it is necessary to have a clear it is important for aspiring countries to corre- understanding of what would be the rules spond to the technology areas defined as (especially on the financial side) to get and needed for the ESA / EDA non-dependence use ESA educational resources, to participate strategy. in IAP tenders, and to participate in the ESA Mr. Tomkus stressed that the interest in par- Technology Transfer programme. It is impor- ticipating in ESA and EU space activities has tant to find the best way to learn the ESA to be value driven and not by the require- language as the system is complex and has ment to finance global European space poli- its own culture. cies. He affirmed that it would be beneficial Kaspars Karolis, Senior Official in the Ministry for countries with a Cooperation Agreement of Education and Science of Latvia, presented to have access to the ESA education and the organisation of space activities in Latvia space incubator programmes. The ESA edu- (see Chapter 2.2) and the country’s long- cation programme could be cross fertilized term strategy and timeframe for cooperation with EU education programmes as there is
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already experience in co-operation and shar- promising fields. An ESA assessment of Slo- ing resources between EC and ESA in Gali- vak industrial capabilities will be performed to leo/GMES programmes. Furthermore, re- identify ESA projects and areas of most po- gional industrial clusters with interests in tential for success and return-on-investment. increasing the Technology Readiness Level, For its part, the government will focus on system integration and lower costs would be budgetary consolidation and the elaboration reasonable for aspiring countries. Mr. Tomkus of reasons for investments for the participa- underlined that fostering of value and cus- tion of the Slovak Republic in ESA. Further- tomer-demand driven ecosystems to support more, the benefits of space investments, the growth of new high tech start-ups would especially on economic growth, should be lead to more space-industry transfer success presented to the wider public. There is a need stories. At the end of his presentation Mr. for more educational programs, public inter- Tomkus defined the estimated priorities of est, political support and the wider involve- space services and technologies for Lithuania ment of the scientific and research authori- which are space science such as solar system ties. science and space situational awareness (10%), governmental and public applications like strategic communication and transport A.1.3 Summary of the Roundtable and General systems (25%), and commercial applications Discussions such as strategic independence technologies In the roundtable discussion, participants (65%). discussed the potential way forward for ESA Marta Cimbáková, Director General of the aspiring member states. One of the focal S&T Division in the Ministry of Education, points of the discussions was the important Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak role of human resources. Delegates empha- Republic, described the Slovak pathway to- sised the need to investigate why it is difficult wards ESA. Ms. Cimbáková next identified for many CEE countries to take positions in the scientific, industrial and educational ESA and EU institutions. While for some ex- stakeholders and outlined the respective po- perts one of the main reasons could be found tentials (see Chapter 2.2). The Slovak Repub- in the lack of confidence in these institutions, lic has established a joint “committee on Slo- for others, the problem was that many states vak cooperation with ESA” which is composed simply do not have people to send to ESA of delegates across all stakeholders (e.g. facilities, like ESTEC or ESRIN. All panellists various Ministries, Slovak Academy of Sci- recognised therefore the need to invest more ences and universities) and manages the in university programmes and enhance the concept and process of the cooperation with level of student education in space-related the Agency. The first general meeting of Slo- subjects. It was emphasized that the cost of vak stakeholders was organised in 2011 training people is much lower than the cost of through a workshop entitled “Slovakia on the unemployment. Educating people or sending path to ESA”. The country identified its main them abroad for education is investing in the priorities in the sectors of telecommunica- future of a country and therefore a worthy tions and navigation, which are seen as the investment. best opportunity for return-on-investment. In this light, the problem of nationals staying Ms. Cimbáková emphasised that although abroad for a better education and job oppor- Slovakia has a long and successful history in tunities and the question of how to keep space sciences (the most advanced areas are those experts in the country was raised. space weather, life sciences as well as as- However, it was emphasized that this issue tronomy and astrophysics) and is currently should not keep countries from sending their participating in several space related pro- young generation abroad to get special edu- jects, experiences with industrial space pro- cation. In this context, it was affirmed that curements are limited. Therefore, the estab- CEE countries in general do not need a space lishment of an “interest group” could be help- education to start with and that a good basis ful to represent the space industry sector. in engineering is enough. However, there is still a need for specific education, e.g. project Scientific stakeholders in the Slovak Republic management, as many people in these coun- are mainly focusing on astronomy and astro- tries are not prepared for these kinds of nec- physics. To date there is no specialised space essary skills. engineering course and therefore educational activities will be intensified to promote ESA Another central point of the discussion was and space science in general and to inspire relations between CEEs and ESA. Speakers students to study technical and natural sci- affirmed that ESA was focused on Western ences. Ms. Cimbáková underlined that the Europe, which makes it difficult to get Slovak Republic must reconsider its broad through to ESA as everything is discussed at scientific priorities and focus on the most high level. The problem of “ESA culture” was
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raised and that there is a lot of confusion hard to join the “western” space industry. In among people because of the difference be- addition, to develop a space industry and tween ESA and the EU. Another critical ques- enter the space market, support from gov- tion is whether ESA is carefully listening to ernment is essential, but in many cases CEE what is available in each country. Some countries lack the necessary political and countries (e.g. Sweden) can more easily sell public support. It was underlined that small to NASA than to ESA. countries have no space industry but poten- tial capabilities and that there is a difference The second part of the roundtable focused on between space business and space industry. industry-related issues. ESA representatives Under these circumstances, workshop partici- underlined the need for new ESA member pants discussed the role of regional coopera- states to focus on short-term projects to tion, to be pursued, for instance, through the have fast results, to keep existing partner- creation of an industry-oriented interest ships and to have a faster industrial return. group. This, according to many speakers, Furthermore, the exchange of information is could represent a supporting step in develop- essential to avoid, for example, ending up ing important capabilities and industrial rela- with a double product. The term "happy new tions on an international level. Market niches member state" was coined to refer to a coun- and applications could be a fertile ground for try effectively profiting from being part of establishing such cooperative undertakings. ESA. For CEE countries the development of their space industries appears to be a com- plex task. First of all, for industry it is quite
Figure 27: Roundtable discussion during the ESPI workshop on „ESA enlargement“
Figure 28: Audience of the ESPI workshop on “ESA Enlargement“
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A.1.4 Workshop Programme
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A.2 Overview of Recent and Aspiring ESA Member States
Cooperation Agreement ECS Agreement / Full Membership PECS Charter Austria 1979 Associate Membership - 1987 Norway 1981 Associate Membership - 1987 Finland 1987 Associate Membership - 1995 Portugal 1996 - 2000 Greece 1994 - 2005 Luxembourg 2000 - 2005 Czech Rep. 1996 2003 / 2004 2008 Romania 1992 2006 / 2006 2011 Poland 1994 2007 / 2008 2012 Hungary 1991 2003 / 2003 - Estonia 2007 2009 / 2010 - Slovenia 2008 2010 / 2010 - Bulgaria - - - Cyprus 2009 - - Latvia 2009 2013 / - - Lithuania 2010 - - Slovak Rep. 2010 - - Malta 2012 - -
Table 8: Key dates of ESA enlargement
Completed Enlargements: 1. Was involved in some of ESA’s op- tional programmes through a bilateral 12th ESA member state – Austria (1987) agreement signed in 1996.262 1. Obtained Associate Membership in 2. Formally became a Member in No- 1979.260 vember 2000. 2. Joined ESA as a full Member in 1987. 16th ESA member state - Greece (2005) 13th ESA member state – Norway (1987) 1. Several cooperation agreement have 1. Obtained Associate Membership in been signed before accession 1981. (1994263, 2001264) 2. Joined ESA as a full Member in 1987. 2. Formal application for accession to the convention in September 2003.265 14th ESA member state – Finland (1995) 3. Accession agreement signed in July 1. Obtained Associate Membership in 2004.266 1987. 2. Cooperation Agreement was renewed 261 in 1991 and 1993. 262 “Portugal becomes ESA’s 15th Member State.” 20 Nov. 3. Became ESA’s 14th Member State in 2000. European Space Agency 05 Dec. 2013 January 1995.
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4. Formally became a Member in March 2. Signed an ECS agreement in Febru- 2005.267 ary 2006.278 3. Signed the PECS Charter in 2006. 279 17th ESA member state - Luxembourg (2005) 4. Accession agreement signed in Janu- 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in ary 2011.280 September 2000.268 5. Formally became a Member in De- 2. Formal application for accession to cember 2011.281 the convention in December 2003.269 3. Accession agreement signed in Mai 20th ESA member state – Poland (2012) 2004.270 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in 4. Formally became a Member in June January 1994. 282 2005.271 2. Signed an ECS agreement in April 2007.283 18th ESA member state - Czech Republic 3. Signed the PECS Charter in April (2008) 2008.284 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in 4. Was granted observer status in ESA’s 1996.272 Council Meeting in June 2011.285 2. Signed an ECS agreement in Novem- 5. Became the 20th full member in No- ber 2003.273 vember 2012.286 3. Signed the PECS Charter in Novem- ber 2004. 274 4. Accession agreement signed in July Aspiring ESA Member States 2008.275 5. Formally became a Member in No- ECS vember 2008.276 19th ESA member state - Romania (2011) Hungary 1. Several cooperation agreement have 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in been signed (1992, 1999)277 1991. 287 2. Signed an ECS agreement in April 288 266 Ibid. 2003. 267 “New member states.” European Space Agency 10 Dec. 2013
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3. Signed the PECS Charter in Novem- Non-ECS ber 2003289, extended in November 2008290. Bulgaria 4. Was granted observer status in ESA’s Council Meeting in June 2011. 1. Was granted observer status in ESA’s Council Meeting in June 2011. Estonia 2. Is discussing cooperation agreement. 296 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in 3. Showed interest in joining ESA.297 2007. 291 2. Signed an ECS agreement in Novem- Cyprus ber 2009.292 3. Signed the PECS Charter in Septem- 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in 298 ber 2010. August 2009. 4. Was granted observer status in ESA’s 2. Was granted observer status in ESA’s Council Meeting in June 2011. Council Meeting in June 2011. Slovenia Lithuania 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in 299 May 2008. 293 October 2010. 2. Signed an ECS agreement in January 2. Was granted observer status in ESA’s 2010.294 Council Meeting in June 2011. 3. Signed the PECS Charter in Novem- ber 2010. Malta 4. Was granted observer status in ESA’s 1. Was granted observer status in ESA’s Council Meeting in June 2011. Council Meeting in June 2011. 2. Signed a cooperation agreement in Latvia February 2012.300 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in July 2009.295 Slovakia 2. Signed an ECS Agreement in March 1. Signed a cooperation agreement in 2013 April 2010.301 3. Was granted observer status in ESA’s 2. Was granted observer status in ESA’s Council Meeting in June 2011. Council Meeting in June 2011.
288 “Hungary and the Czech Republic sign Cooperating State agreements with ESA”. 4 Dec. 2003. European Space Agency 10 Dec. 2013
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank ESPI Re- Duchossois (ISPE), Gilles Maquet (ESPI Gen- search Interns Fabien Evrard and Elizabeth eral Assembly), Chiara de Caro (EBAN), Mundee-Barket for their significant and in- Bernd Litzka (AWS), Karel Dobeš (Ministry of valuable help in researching and compiling Transport in the Czech Republic), Marius-Ioan data, as well as drafting contents for this Piso (Romanian Space Agency), Anna Nałęcz- ESPI Report. Kobierzycka (Ministry of Economy of Poland), Tomaž Rodič (Space-SI), Madis Vốốras (En- Additionally, the authors would like to thank terprise Estonia), Kaspars Karolis (Ministry of the speakers at the workshop “ESA Enlarge- Education and Science of Latvia), Vidmantas ment – What interested countries can do to Tomkus (Lithuanian Space Association), and prepare themselves for ultimate accession”: Marta Cimbáková (Ministry of Education, Sci- Peter Hulsroj (ESPI), Harald Posch (FFG), Ene ence, Research and Sport of the Slovak Re- Ergma (President of the Parliament in Esto- public). nia), Anabelle Fonseca (ESA), Bernard Zuf- ferey (ESA), Pierluigi Manchini (ESA), Hugo Maree (ESA), Fernando Maura (ESA), Guy
About the Authors
Erich Klock Marco Aliberti Erich Klock joined the European Space Policy Marco Aliberti is a Resident Fellow at the Institute in Vienna as a project manager in European Space Policy Institute in Vienna. He 2010 and is responsible for the ESA Inte- first joined ESPI as a Research Intern in Oc- grated Applications Promotion (IAP) Ambas- tober 2012, after completing the ASI/SIOI sador Platform for the Central and Eastern Master of Advanced Studies in Space Policy European region. This platform was estab- and Institutions and attending the ESA/ECSL lished to support the ESA IAP programme by Summer Course on Space Law and Policy. raising awareness and stimulating projects in Prior to that, he graduated in Oriental Lan- the region of Central and Eastern Europe. guages and Cultures at the University of Prior to that, Erich Klock worked for three Rome “La Sapienza”, and obtained a Master years as a scientific staff member for an Aus- in International Relations from the Italian trian research institution and two years as a Diplomatic Academy (SIOI). He also pursued process engineer for a printed circuit board International Asian Studies at the University producer. of Naples “L'Orientale” and Security Studies at the Institute of Global Studies – School of Erich Klock holds a Master degree in Business Government in Rome. As of January 2014, he Administration in General Management (MBA) has been researching Europe's opportunities as well as a Master degree in Space Sciences and challenges with regards to Chinese space (MSc), with a specialisation in satellite com- exploration ambitions. munication and navigation. Furthermore, he holds a degree in electronic engineering (DI (FH)).
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Mission Statement of ESPI
The European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) provides decision-makers with an informed view on mid- to long-term issues relevant to Europe’s space activi- ties. In this context, ESPI acts as an independent platform for developing po- sitions and strategies.
www.espi.or.at