Broadening Europe's space community
In an effort to stimulate development and use of critical satellite technology, space organisations in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland worked together with more experienced space organisations in France and Sweden. The NORDICBALTSAT(opens in new window) (Utilizing the existing and emerging potential of Nordic-Baltic dimension in critical satellite technologies and applications) project aimed to bridge the gap. With the support of the EU, project partners charted research areas and industrial potential in the Baltic Sea region during the last quarter of 2010. The analysis results revealed that Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland can contribute substantially to the European space programme, if more targeted investments were made through cooperation. Existing technologies were then matched to critical technologies defined by ESA and the European Defence Agency (EDA) to produce a roadmap of common paths and synergies. To support effective integration in the European space industry, a series of training courses were organised for entrepreneurs and individual mentoring programmes were offered by carefully chosen experts in the field. In particular, mentoring programmes will continue after the project is completed to ensure lasting and successful partnerships. NORDICBALTSAT partners also initiated a space awareness-raising activity, the first of its kind in Europe, encouraging students and young employees to consider careers in the aerospace sector. Awareness-raising resources have been made available to policymakers for efficient planning and decision making. A themed conference provided the opportunity to get an overview of the European space industry's potential as well as the current status of national space governance systems in the Baltic Sea region and Poland. Participants included representatives of prominent European space companies and organisations. The NORDICBALTSAT project created the necessary conditions for future cooperation between emerging space communities and accession to ESA. Many more fruitful collaborations are expected to utilise the scientific and industrial potential of the consortium partners for mutual benefit and competitive advantage.