The EPIC work structure is articulated with some continuous activities (e.g. project management, dissemination) and in two cycles of recurring activities, each cycle synchronized with a specific H2020 Space Work Programme preparation.
The objectives of the 1st cycle were to:
• Initiate the project and establish the management, financial and communication structures (Task 1.1).
• Coordinate within the EPIC consortium, with the EPIC Advisory board and the THAG (Tasks 1.2 and 1.4).
• Coordinate with EC/REA (Task 1.4 and across WP4).
• Initiate dissemination activities (Task 5.1).
The specific objectives of the support of the different calls were the following:
• Analyse the state of the art and the needs on the basis of the European Harmonisation process on Electric Propulsion Technologies and consultation with stakeholders (Task 2.1).
• Collect the requirements from commercial and institutional actors, European primes and Agencies for current and future missions using EP, again including consultation with stakeholders (Task 2.2).
• Produce a gap analysis derived from the analysis of the two previous points, per application domain (Task 2.3).
• Prioritise the EP technologies per application domain, both for Incremental advances and Disruptive RTD (Tasks 3.1 and 3.2).
• Arrive, by means of the prioritisation and consultation with stakeholders to an SRC roadmap for both lines of developments in H2020 Space (Tasks 3.3 and 3.4)
• Produce a clear Master Plan for the roadmap implementation (Task 3.4).
• Prepare and provide the Commission with a draft call text for the different calls topics and related call documentation. (Task 4.1)
• Support the Commission and REA with the different calls material, including its presentation to multiple stakeholders (e.g. H2020 Space Programme Committee, H2020 Space Info Days) (Tasks 4.1 4.5 and 5.1).
The objectives of the 2nd and 3rd cycle were:
The objectives of the continuous activities were to:
• Maintain and continue the project and establish the management, financial and communication structures
• Coordinate within the EPIC PSA consortium, with the EPIC Advisory board and the THAG.
• Coordinate and support to EC/REA in areas such as monitoring of the Operationl Grants.
• Consolidate and develop dissemination activities of the SRC
• Consolidate and develop education activities and outreach of the SRC
Various dissemination channels and media had been used during the program to obtain maximum impact from the promotion of EPIC results. The channels had been selected according to the intended audience.
5 Workshops took place during the life of the project. These workshops have been a powerful tool of communication among the different actors in the community and have been also used to get enough information to update the different documents and prepare the different calls. Furthermore, the community is glad to contribute in such events where their points of view are shared and have an impact on the plans for the different activities.