Over the past several years, Czech firms have become increasingly involved in European space research programs, supplying equipment for satellites, including software applications for processing data collected in space. After the Czech Republic became a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) in November 2008, the doors to space technology contracts worth millions of euros were fully opened.
- On the way to space millions
- Repute and know-how are of utmost importance
- Scientific instruments and supervising farmers
- Space brings competitive advantage
At the beginning of Nov. 2009, the Russian Rokot carrier-rocket blasted off from Plesetsk cosmodrome near Arkhangel carrying the SMOS and Proba-2 satellites into orbit. The Proba-2 carried devices were designed in the Czech Republic. One of them, a thermal plasma measurement unit (TPMU), provides measurements of electron temperature, floating potential and ion temperature, concentration and composition. The second, a dual segmented Langmuir probe (DSLP), analyzes magnetospheric background plasma. Both of these instruments come from the Czech Space Research Centre (CSRC) in Brno, South Moravia.
The director of the Czech Space Office, Česká kosmická kancelář (ČKK), Jan Kolář said that there are dozens of Czech companies working in diverse areas of space research. Czech cooperation on ESA projects is not limited to supplying hardware and software for satellites; local companies are also involved in the development of various applications for processing the results of space research and applying the findings in a range of areas, including commercial exploitation.
“The typical areas where the knowledge is applied are telecommunications, weather forecasting, navigation, cartography, surveying harvests or the environment, and also for security issues or humanitarian aid,” Kolář said.
On the way to space millions
Czech firms participated on commissions for the European space program several years prior to the country joining ESA, but until Nov. 2008 their access to interesting projects was limited because ESA membership is often a requirement for participants in space tenders.
In 2003, the Czech Republic joined the Plan for European Cooperating States (PECS), founded for countries which are not members of ESA. Thanks to this plan, Czech firms participated in 29 projects prior to ESA membership, gathering valuable experience. “In the PECS program we were able to learn how the cooperation works. It is very difficult for any firm to present a successful offer in a tender without having previous experience of how things run in this field,” said Luboš Kučera from remote sensing and GIS technology company Gisat. His firm has participated on some 10 projects for ESA, mainly in the area of satellite photography.
All obstacles limiting access to Czech firms were removed when the Czech Republic entered ESA in Nov. 2008. ESA obtains financing from the member countries and there are two types of financing, mandatory and optional. The amount of mandatory contributions is based on the GDP of each country. For the Czech Republic, this means €4.5 million (Kč 119 million) a year. Optional contributions depend on the programs in which the given country wants to become involved in the coming five years.
The Czech Republic plans to participate in 13 projects and will thus contribute an extra €3.5 million a year. The areas which the Czech Republic has selected are programs for Earth observation, development of new telecommunication technologies, and the European navigation project Galileo. ESA operates on a basis of so-called “geographical return,” meaning that it invests in each member state in the form of industrial contracts for space programs, which roughly amount to the equivalent of each country’s contribution, thus preventing companies from larger countries such as France or Germany winning a disproportional share of projects. “In practice, this means that within a five-year period every member country should get back at least 84 percent of the money it has invested in the form of contracts for local firms,” Kolář said.
Repute and know-how are of utmost importance
ESA projects are usually long-term, covering several years and costing dozens of millions of euros. Kolář explained that no single company is able to cope with all parts of such complex projects and that is why large consortiums are created when a new tender is called. Projects are divided into smaller parts between members of consortiums. Czech companies with experience in such tenders confirm that the competition in Europe is very tough. “Our line of technologies for satellite cartography was heavily supported by ESA, so there were many firms trying to participate,” said Gisat’s Kučera, which specializes in practical applications for satellite photography. Therefore, whenever a tender is called, ESA receives dozens of bids.
In addition to demonstrable professional skills, company reputation and experience are of utmost importance. The first Czech company to win an ESA tender was Iguassu Software Systems from Prague, which was selected for participation in a project called Information Mining. The head of Iguassu, Petr Bareš, said it was by no means easy to win the tender. “A large number of reputed foreign companies and consortiums tried to take a part in this project. Thanks to our experience gained in former projects within the PESC we had good references and we had a wide range of international contacts, which helped us to join the best international consortium which finally got us the job,” he explained.
ČKK also helps identify projects most suitable for Czech companies and offers advice to firms on how to submit bids in tenders. Complex bureaucracy typical for EU institutions is also a feature of ESA. The director of CSRC Marek Šimčák said that although the professional aspects of a project are key in every tender, the whole bid effort can be ruined by a formal error. “In the case of Czech firms who are newcomers to the business, it is a necessity to understand all formal aspects of a tender, which makes things even more difficult for them,” Šimčák said.
When a project is divided among all members of a consortium and subcontractors, there is usually a commission amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros for each firm. “In projects on which we have collaborated, consortiums usually have 30 to 40 members. Budgets amounting to tens of millions are divided among them and the share for a firm of our size and orientation amounts of tens of thousands of euros,” Kučera said.
Scientific instruments and supervising farmers
Dozens of companies in the Czech Republic involved in space projects are oriented either directly on research of technologies used by satellites or practical applications for results gathered from space missions. For most of them, Kolář said, ESA programs are the only means for generating sufficient profits. “Some of these companies were conceived with the aim of participating on space projects, but none of them work exclusively on products designed for cosmonautics,” he said.
Iguassu Software Systems is among the most active Czech companies of this type. Iguassu was founded as a branch of a British firm, but in 2000 it became independent. Bareš said the experience and contacts gained with the former mother company were invaluable for Iguassu’s inclusion in a consortium developing search and rescue applications for the Galileo navigational system.
Kučera admitted that for an outsider, satellite photography may seem to be a somewhat abstract notion. As an example of its practical application he cited the monitoring of subsidies for farming. “Farmers obtain subsidies on the condition that they grow certain produce on certain fields. Space photography enables checks on whether farmers are really cultivating in the given areas and what they are growing,” Kučera explained.
CSRC supplies hardware for satellites and its current priority is the third generation Meteosat project. In 2009, CSRC was the first Czech company to win an ESA tender. “It was a matter of prestige to succeed in this challenging ESA tender. We were the only Czech company with four successfully completed products already working in space,” Šimčák said. However, he pointed out that his company actively seeks projects other than those financed by ESA. “ESA officials regularly point out the necessity to work on other projects. The space technologies business is a typical example of the well-known dynamic processes when periods with surpluses of contracts alternate with quiet periods,” Šimčák said.
Satellite technologies are also a key domain of the company Immobiliser Central Europe (ICE). According to ICE director Jaroslav Jansa, ESA programs account for about a half of the firm’s commissions, which amount to tens of millions crowns a year. In the past, the company took part in a consortium which developed the first EGNOS/Galileo software receiver for firefighters across the EU. Currently, ICE is preparing for projects in the area of satellite technology used in electronic health care.
Space brings competitive advantage
The impact of European space research is not limited to cosmonautics. Technologies developed for space are often adapted for application in a range of other fields, largely thanks to their high quality. “Technologies designed for satellites are required to meet very strict quality requirements,” Kolář said. “They have to get somewhere in space, so they must endure strong vibrations and unparalleled acceleration during take off. They must also withstand conditions in orbit, for example weightlessness, strong radiation and vacuum.” Instruments must work for several years without any manual adjustment and limited possibilities for remote repairs.
Therefore, the know-how and experience of suppliers of space technologies give them advantage over competition in other areas. “When a product endures exposure in space, it is proven to be high-level technology suitable for reliable use on Earth,” Kolář explained.
Kolář said he believes that space research should be strongly supported if only for the sake of innovation and said that Czech involvement in ESA is beneficial not only for the companies directly involved, but also for the Czech economy as a whole. “International studies point to the various multiplication effects of space research. For instance, the OECD recently found that money invested in cosmonautics generates subsequent revenues four or five times higher than the initial investment,” he said. In addition to the creation of unique new technologies, space research also has a positive affect upon the educational system by creating demand for highly qualified experts.
This article was originally published by Czech Business Weekly journal. Author: Jan Němec
