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Space industry gets ESA approval

Full membership could mean more contracts for technology firms

July 9th, 2008 issue

By Adrian Chen

For the Post
Astronauts may get all the glory, but space is big business, too. Last week, the European Space Agency (ESA) opened the bidding for components of its new 3.4 billion euro ($5.4 billion/81.1 billion Kč) Galileo satellite system, and according to the Association of European Space Industry, the space sector employs more than 33,000 people throughout Europe.
The Czech Republic’s own space industry is getting a slice of the pie as well, with the ESA’s June 25 approval for full membership to the 17-country organization. When the Czech government issues its expected approval later this year, the Czech Republic will become the first post-communist member of the ESA.
“This means much easier access to involvement in the space industry,” said Martin Šunkevič, director of the department of Telecommunication and Navigation at the Czech Space Office, a nonprofit organization that coordinates space activities in the Czech Republic.
Since 2005, the Czech Republic has been an ESA “cooperating state,” contributing on average 5 million euros a year to the ESA as it worked toward full membership. Ninety percent of the money was returned in the form of contracts to Czech companies like Gisat, a Prague-based geo-information company that supports an ESA project monitoring environmental risks via satellite.
Without full membership, certain restrictions have hampered space industry development here. The size of the country’s contribution to the ESA limited the number of contracts that could be awarded, while companies faced a lengthy governmental approval process before they could undertake projects.
“You could get into a situation where you would win an international competition, and instead of the Czech Republic celebrating, they say, ‘We have to decide if we approve of this,’ ” said Petr Bareš, leader of the Czech Space Alliance, a coalition of businesses working on space technology.
With full membership, the size and number of contracts available to Czech businesses should increase as the government contributes more to the ESA, and businesses will be able to bid directly on ESA contracts.
Increased opportunities aren’t enough, Bares said, as businesses are sometimes intimidated by the perceived complexity of space technology. “There are a lot of companies capable of participating in ESA programs technologically,” he said. “But, in general, they aren’t aware of ESA or they think it’s too remote. They think, ‘This is not for us.’ ”
Bareš has worked with the government to promote the space industry in a business-friendly way, playing up the access to new technology, potential profits and prestige that comes with working with the ESA.  
 “It’s not some kind of high-level, high-brow research,” Bareš said.  “It’s real business.”
Adrian Chen can be reached at achen@praguepost.com


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