Filenews 21 June 2021 - by Giorgos Tzivas
The Department of Electronic Communications of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) organised on Wednesday, 16 June, at the "Cleopatra" hotel in Nicosia a workshop on "5th ESA PECS Call Briefing 2021".
The workshop, which was open to all national stakeholders, was organised in order to inform stakeholders, from ESA, about the framework and procedures in relation to the submission of proposals at the 5th ESA PECS call, from which the projects to be financed will emerge, under the agreement signed on 6 July 2016.
In particular, the briefing provided basic information on the rules of the call and on how to draw up a good proposal. It is proven that those who attended the briefing have a significantly higher success rate in the Invitation.
At the end of the workshop, ESA provided the opportunity for stakeholders to have face to face meetings with their representatives. The workshop was under the auspices of the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Kyriakou Kokkinos.
The Department of Electronic Communications was represented by its director, Giorgos Komodromos, while a greeting was read by the Director of the Ministry of State, Mr. Winter.
The coordination of the workshop by the officer of the Department of Electronic Communications, Stelios Georgis, was impeccable.
The European Space Agency
ESA, the European Space Agency, is Europe's gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe's space capabilities and to ensure continued investment in space to bring benefits for Europe's citizens. ESA is an international organisation, which has 22 Member States. By planning the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities that are much more demanding than the capabilities of each European country individually.
What are the Member States
The 22 ESA member states are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Greece, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Finland.
The Agency's headquarters are located in Paris, where decisions on policies and programmes are taken. However, ESA also has a number of operational and research centres in Europe, each of which has different tasks.
ESA has interconnection offices in Belgium, the United States and Russia, a launch base in French Guiana and ground surveillance stations in various regions of the world.
Cyprus, Slovakia and Bulgaria are European Co-Operating States.
What's his staff?
The permanent staff of ESA number about 2,000 people, who come from all Member States and include scientists, engineers, IT specialists and administrative staff.
Where it is funded
The mandatory activities of the ESA (space science programmes and the general budget) are financed by the financial contribution of all Member States, calculated in accordance with the Gross National Product of each country.
How much does it cost?
Every European's per capita investment in space is very small. On average, every citizen of an ESA member state pays taxes on space spending almost as much as a ticket to the cinema (in the United States, investing in political space activities is nearly four times as much).
How ESA works
The ESA Council is the Agency's governing body and provides the main policy guidelines within which ESA develops the European Space Programme. Each Member State shall be represented in the Council by one vote, irrespective of its size or financial contribution.
Collaborating member
Cyprus became in 2016 the 11th country to sign the European Partner Member State Agreement, (ending this year) strengthening its relations with ESA.
What does ESA do?
ESA's mission is to design and implement the European Space Programme. The Agency's programmes are designed to enrich our knowledge of Earth, its immediate space environment, the Solar System and the Universe, as well as the development of satellite-based technologies and services and the promotion of European industries. ESA is also working closely with space agencies outside Europe to benefit all mankind from space.
