Friday 5 December 2014

Spain is investing big in Space progams

SPAIN TO INVEST 344.5 MILLION EUROS IN SPACE PROGRAMS 
At the Ministerial Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) held in Luxembourg earlier Wednesday, the Spanish delegation – led by the Secretary-General for Industry and SMEs, BegoƱa Cristeto, and the Managing Director of the Centre for Industrial and Technological Development (Spanish acronym: CDTI), Elisa Robles – announced that Spain will invest 344.5 million euros in space programs under agreements reached at the government’s Council of Ministers.
First and foremost, this investment will be used to finance participation by Spanish companies in the programs proposed by the ESA at the Ministerial-Level Council Meeting:
Spain will make significant progress in the field of launch vehicles by becoming the 4th country involved in the new Ariane6 launcher, via a contribution of 6% (182 million euros). This investment will generate a positive return over the course of the launcher’s life cycle and will lead to a business volume of approximately 1 billion euros for companies taking part in the ESA development programme. Furthermore, this 6% will enable more Spanish companies to participate in the Ariane6 launcher, as opposed to the lower number taking part in the current Ariane5.
Spain will also provide 46 million euros to other launch vehicle programmes.
Spain will contribute 17 million euros to maintaining the International Space Station (ISS).
In addition, Spain will contribute to programs for which the ESA requested funding at the previous Council Meeting at a Ministerial Level, held in Naples in 2012, and to which Spain was unable to contribute at the time given the economic situation of the country that year:
In the field of security: 20 million euros, for the development of a national Space Security system, through which to gain access to the 0.6 billion-1 billion euros that the European Commission has allocated to the European system over the next decade.
In the field of telecommunications: 18 million euros, for maintaining the technological capabilities of Spanish industry in a sector that is highly attractive to trade.
In the field of technology: 15 million euros, for the development of new technologies capable of enabling Spanish companies to bid from a level playing field alongside their European competitors on future ESA missions.
In the field of Earth observation: 25 million euros, for Europe’s Copernicus satellite constellation (that generate additional business paid for with funds from the European Commission); and 12 million euros, for future scientific missions (including maintenance of the Maspalomas space centre).
In the field of space exploration: 10 million euros for the mission to Mars, Exomars and technological activities in preparation for future missions
Spanish investments in ESA programmes
Spain has traditionally stood among the five or six highest contributors to the European Space Agency, with a contribution of between 5% and 7% of the total funding allocated to optional programs.
This has enabled spectacular progress over the last 20 years, in which the Spanish space industry has moved from playing a secondary role in the value chain to one of leadership in complete systems.
Besides the capacity to lead complete space systems, there is a raft of independent medium-sized companies that have developed important technologies and components that are now used successfully in both the commercial and institutional markets.
In the field of space infrastructure, Spain is also home to one of the five major activity centers operated by the ESA. The European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid focuses on the development and operation of the instrumentation on scientific satellites launched by the ESA. The centre has experienced strong growth since 2004 (the number of employees working there has more than doubled), its status within the ESA has been risen from a ‘monitoring station’ to an ‘establishment’ and new lines of activity have been launched (the Space Situational Awareness Programme or SSA).

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