The European Space Agency will be based in Prague

The European Space Agency will be based in Prague
27/2/2019Press releases

From 2021 the new European Space Agency (EU space programme) will have its headquarters in the Czech Republic. The EU agreed on the final shape of its space programme at its trialogue meeting yesterday. This brings new opportunities for Czech businesses and scientists and the Czech Republic has a unique chance of gaining importance in technologies and applications with high added value.

The European Space Agency will be based in Prague
"It is significant news for the Czech Republic that decision-making about the development of EU satellite systems will be based in Prague. Experts in navigation, Earth observation and telecommunications from whole Europe will be meeting in Prague. This is an opportunity for Czech businesses that can meet these European entities and seek contacts and cooperation. It simply makes sense to sit by the source of information and decision-making", said the transport minister Dan Ťok.
 
Controlled from Prague will be not only the market development for Galileo and EGNOS satellite navigation systems but also the Copernicus Earth observation programme and the GOVSATCOM telecommunications system. The agency will be also responsible for safety certification of the entire programme. This is of key importance for the reliability of EU satellite services, particularly at a time of cyber threats. The agency shall be also involved in innovation schemes.
 
This means that the Czech Republic has a unique chance of gaining importance in technologies and applications with high added value. Besides close contact with GSA, it is the programmes of ESA, that prepares satellites for the EU, that are the instruments for this development.
 
Satellite systems are used in everyday life: mobile phone navigation, synchronisation of banking and power grids, weather forecast and online news from the whole world have become a matter of fact thanks to satellite services. Satellite navigation and Earth observation are also widely used in many fields such as transportation, logistics, agriculture, management of natural resources, environmental monitoring, smart cities and many others. Different autonomous systems will also depend on satellite services. The significance of these systems has been growing fast.
 
It has been a long-term objective to boost the role of GSA and the Ministry of Transport has devoted seven years to this activity. Given the complexity and challenge of the negotiation process (mostly during the last eight months), cooperation between many sectors was essential. These sectors involved the Government Department, the National Cyber and Information Security Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the Czech Statistical Office and the government agent for cooperation with GSA who was leading the negotiations about the GSA head office in Prague.

 
Back to article list