Session 1: Boundary Conditions

In the first session of the workshop, speakers from ESA addressed the strategic elements of ESA expansion and the development of sus-tainable space-based services.

The session was opened by Anabelle Fonseca, representing the ESA International Relations Department, who illustrated the ESA system leading to accession. After presenting the recent steps taken by ESA toward EU mem-ber states not part of the Agency, (in particu-lar their nomination as observers in October 2011 and the National Trainee Scheme), she defined the boundary conditions and proce-dures leading to ESA accession, explaining that a formal request must first be sent by a country to start the co-operation. Ms.

Fonseca explained that ESA has recently

started negotiations with Bulgaria. Finally, she illustrated the current status of ESA co-operation with CEE countries and explained the final aim of becoming a “happy” Member of ESA.

The PECS Office Manager, Bernard Zufferey, addressed in a more specific way the issues related to the Plan for European Cooperating States. He firstly presented the historical background, from PRODEX as a first tempo-rary cooperating tool with ESA to a two-day workshop in Budapest in 1999 organised by ESA and HSO that aimed at analysing exist-ing relations between ESA and its partners in CEE. The main conclusion of this event was that the step between present co-operation agreement and full membership was far too big for CEE countries, which finally led to the establishment of the PECS programme. Sub-sequently, he focused on the two key objec-tives of PECS: to associate ECS participants with ESA programmes and activities, and to prepare them in the most efficient manner for possible future accession. The areas covered by the Plan were illustrated subsequently.

Given the difficulties encountered by many countries with the PECS procedures, particu-lar emphasis was given on the new PECS Call for Proposal and Invitation to Tender proce-dure. Calls for proposals are made according to the standard ESA procedures, including the use of EMITS, in order to make the ECS more familiar with the Agency. Furthermore, the importance of having a national space pro-gramme and a kind of framework space pol-icy was emphasised during the presentation.

Pierluigi Mancini, Head of the Awareness and Feasibly Studies Division in the Directorate of Telecommunication and Integrated Applica-tions of ESA, talked about the development of sustainable space-based services as an opportunity for aspiring countries. The focus was placed on the Integrated Application Promotion (IAP) programme (ARTES 20) and the opportunities for economic growth offered by space applications and services. He started the presentation by showing how applications, as the bridge between the world of End Users and the world of Technology, represent the ultimate good for which end users are “willing to pay the bill”. The IAP programme supports the development of new applications by utilising and integrating dif-ferent space assets, resulting in improved or new services for citizens on a regional, Euro-pean and global scale. The programme does not push any particular technology, but re-sponds to user needs. Following its user-driven nature, the main focus of the IAP pro-gramme is to set up relationships with user communities in order to collect their require-ments for new (or improved) services and to

federate their demand so as to obtain the critical mass to enable sustainable services.

IAP services address a broad range of appli-cation domains and Mr. Mancini stressed the fact that the prerequisite to achieving a suc-cessful IAP programme is a sucsuc-cessful awareness programme, which can be realised also thanks to the established network of so called IAP Ambassador Platforms. The con-cept of Ambassador Platforms was introduced to bridge the gap to areas outside the tradi-tional scope of space activities. Therefore, these platforms are hosted by external or-ganisations that have the necessary expertise and network to interface between ESA and stakeholders of potential services. An IAP Ambassador Platform has a regional or the-matic focus (or a combination of both) and the mandate to inform users of the opportu-nities available within the IAP programme, to collect their needs, and to encourage the involvement of all relevant service stake-holders.

The development of a space capacity is es-sential for the development of space-based applications, which he defined as “access to a coherent set of know-how, industrial capacity and infrastructure, and the maintenance and continuous improvement of this competitive technical infrastructure”. The specificities of European capacity are that it has a high level of integration and is becoming a symbol of European identity; it is based on civilian pub-lic efforts more then military; and it is still very vulnerable, given its dependency on the commercial environment and the lack of technological independence in certain critical areas. The achievement of this European capacity is a precondition for the design, de-velopment and operation of space-based applications. The presentation highlighted that the development of IAP applications presents a considerable opportunity for in-creasing the market pull of existing space infrastructures.

The Head of the Education and Knowledge Management Office of ESA, Hugo Maree, gave a presentation on the ESA corporate education programme, which highlighted the role education plays in supporting ESA enlargement. He emphasised that even if ESA is not an educational institution, education is also included in the Agency Convention as part of ESA mandatory activities. It is an important element of the European Space Policy and of Space Council Resolutions as well as a major objective of the Europe 2020 strategy. Education can use space as a theme to enhance the literacy of young people in science and technology, and to motivate young Europeans to pursue a space related career. Given the strong lack of interest by

young people, it is essential to focus also on teachers. Therefore, a major objective of the Education programme is to offer tailored sup-port for teachers to meet the very diverse needs of 20 member states. Beyond the dif-ferent languages there is, in fact, a variety of educational systems and a very large audi-ence. This support is implemented exclusively through institutional partnerships (co-funding), mainly with Ministries of Education.

Other important objectives of the education programme are to provide university students with practical experience in real space-related projects through hands-on opportunities; to support the academic development and career prospects of postgraduate students in member states; and to inform and inspire teachers and students through a variety of initiatives. There are a number of activities that have the aim of ensuring the availability of a qualified work-force for ESA and the European space sector in the future, by providing university students with their “first” practical experience in real space projects. These projects deal, for exam-ple, with micro and hyper gravity activities (“Fly Your Thesis”, “Drop Your Thesis” and

“Spin Your Thesis”), microsatellites (ESEO), nano-satellites (CanSats), rocket and balloon experiments (REXUS and BEXUS). Among the hands-on opportunities a major role is played

by CubeSats, which is an ESA educational space project in collaboration with European universities. It provides university-level stu-dents with the unique opportunity to gain sig-nificant practical experience in the full lifecycle of a real space project. As also mentioned in Chapter 2 of the present report, thanks to the CubeSats project Romania, Hungary and Po-land succeeded in launching their first satellite on the VEGA maiden flight on 13 February 2012. Furthermore, many universities across Europe have been able to build real satellites.

Finally, Mr. Maree presented the current re-sults of the ESA Education programme. Since 2000, about 3900 students from all ESA Mem-bers and Cooperating States have been in-volved. Development, testing and operation of flight and ground hardware and software have been realised. An important mentoring oppor-tunity has been given by ESA/industry experi-enced staff, which also provided familiarisation with the space projects standards of the Agency. Finally, many Masters and PhD theses were produced in the course of these projects and for many students their participation was the first step towards a successful career. To conclude, in 2011 alone, a total of 485 stu-dents from European countries took part in ESA’s tertiary education projects (as shown in 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.

The first session of the ESPI workshop was concluded with a presentation by Fernando Maura, Head of the ESAC Human Resources Service. The presentation provided an over-view of the new national trainee scheme, presented by ESA DG in May 2011. Mr. Maura firstly explained the mechanisms, purposes and benefits this initiative may deliver. The national trainee scheme is funded by national entities and provides an opportunity for engi-neering and science graduates from non-ESA member states to receive on-the-job training in space technologies for 12 months. In con-crete, the main objectives are: to help meet national space industry needs of skilled staff, to support effective cooperation with ESA by creating links, and to increase ESA aware-ness. He subsequently stressed the fact that, despite the numerous benefits and although 30 training opportunities were available in 2012, non-ESA EU Members had not yet signed any agreement. For this reason, two discussion points were raised: what can be done to speed up the process, and what can ESA do to help in this respect?

A.1.2.2 Session 2: Discussing Accompanying