Space sector consulting

Estonian space-related support project

“Introduction of the downstream applications and opportunities of space technology to the Estonian entrepreneurs for increasing their awareness and competitiveness”

So far Estonian industry and organisations hardly know the fact, how they can benefit in very concrete way from the development of applications and services under the Kopernikus (previously knows Global Monitoring for Environment and Security - GMES) initiative as well as Galileo programme which is another major space programme in European level. There are direct benefits for the Earth observation as well as satellite navigation community in Estonia, or indirect benefits for other parts of the space sector and more widely in other sectors of the Estonian economy. In securing all these benefits it is important to consider the opportunities and threats from Kopernikus and Galileo which includes the areas of technology, data supply, and services provision. Estonia needs to consider how well positioned we are to exploit the opportunities, mitigate the threats, and identify measure to ensure that we are well placed to make the most of the opportunities. As a response to these challenges, at the beginning of 2009 Enterprise Estonia issued invitation to tender for another space-related support project “Introduction of the downstream applications and opportunities of space technology to the Estonian entrepreneurs for increasing their awareness and competitiveness”. On the one hand this project was initiated for the purpose of fulfilment of the cooperation framework agreement between Estonia and ESA and on the other hand it was aimed to be a next step after similar kind of project which was carried out year ago.

The objective of the project is to increase the awareness of the entrepreneurs of the new opportunities for developing the products and services to develop the down-stream services of space sector, open up export markets of the Estonian entrepreneurs, improve the quality of public services through innovative solutions and increase the awareness of wider public of the new technologies and their application opportunities. Despite a very tough timeframe, Invent Baltics managed to put together strong consortia of internationally well-known experts and companies for execution of activities of this Estonian space-related support project. At the end of March 2009 commission of experts selected a winner and consortia lead by Invent Baltics turned out to be winner of this tender.

The activities in the course of the project “Introduction of the downstream applications and opportunities of space technology to the Estonian entrepreneurs for increasing their awareness and competitiveness” are aimed to focus on downstream applications of space technology based on Earth observation; satellite navigation and telecommunication. All Estonian and other relevant international research and development organisations will be involved into project, including well-known and highly-respected partners from European space industry. In the course of the project:

  • Assessment of Estonian space potential will be conducted. Estonian space potential in terms of technology developers and solution suppliers in the field of downstream services as well as beneficiaries, mainly on the governmental agencies level will be charted. Best practices and most promising business models will be analysed and presented. As a result of this mapping work and based on inputs from background analysis Estonian Space Strategy of Downstream Services will be drafted. Strategy will cover following topics: international downstream policy outlook, global market of downstream services and R&D, applications and business models in downstream services, public policy areas & space-related services in Estonia, academic research & education for the space services, Estonian business in downstream sector, gap analyses of Estonian space services development and vision together with development goals of downstream services in Estonia.
  • Several training seminars and study trips in cooperation with ESA Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN), Italian Space Agency (AS), EADS Astrium, German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Logica LLC respectively will be arranged.
  • Space conference focusing on the development of downstream services will be arranged May 2010. Conference will be targeted to all near-regions like Baltic Sea countries, Russia and others European countries on common ground to exchange views, learn from each other, stimulate new partnerships and join forces in the satellite services. Conference`s agenda contains discussions and information exchange on the challenges ahead from the user perspective. Distinguished speakers will present possible solutions provided by existing and planned space applications in the areas of Earth Observation, Satellite Positioning and Navigation. In parallel to the Conference an exhibition will present the interests and achievements of Estonian space sector and foreign companies. The participants of the exposition are Estonian and European aerospace and defence companies and R&D institutions, actively involved in the development of space technologies and applications. They will present their achievements in this domain, giving the audience an unique opportunity to review currently operational products and services as well as future developments of space applications, particularly those that can be used to improve the management of public sector.

Finally, for the first time comprehensive booklet of Estonian space activities will be introduced. This booklet will describe what Estonia wants to offer for international space community along with detailed descriptions of the present capabilities of the Estonian space industry and our scientific institutions related to the space technologies and applications. For the first time booklet of Estonian space activities will be presented during exhibition which takes place in the course of 60th International Astronautical Congress in Daejeon, South-Korea. Estonian message to the world is as follows: Estonia - New partner in international space community!