SCO in Slovakia
Slovakia sustains a strong national commitment for the involvement within the SCO and the overall topic of promoting and facilitating the use of space technology for environmental protection and climate action. The current Slovak EO landscape persist to be the domain with the highest number of companies involved out of all the space economy areas. More than a dozen of companies works on a wide variety of highly innovative and competitive solutions including infrastructure and land deformation monitoring, solar radiation monitoring, meteorological forecasting and modelling, forest disturbance mapping and monitoring, natural habitat monitoring, or early warning systems development.
1 SLOVAK SPACE OFFICE
The Slovak Space Office consists of two components. The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic is responsible for inter-ministerial political coordination and multilateral international cooperation (European Space Agency, European Union, United Nations). Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency – SARIO covers the implementation part of the agenda, especially developing the space ecosystem and international partnerships.
2 OBJECTIVES
The recent accomplishment of Slovakia becoming the newest Associate Member (AM) of the European Space Agency (ESA), opens new possibilities for international cooperation. Now with AM in force, the new national priority will be to go through this transition as efficiently as possible and primarily, to utilize the perpetual growth of Slovak space ecosystem and assure for Slovakia to be a valuable international partner within the 21st century space economy.
Slovak Space Office aims to accomplish this objective within the 3-point strategic approach:
- Utilization of the space ecosystem’s full potential
- Diversifying the funding sources and markets to create a stable and resilient space ecosystem prepared for the opportunities and challenges of these days
- Building a strong international position in the sector both in technological and non-technological areas.
3 SLOVAKIA AND EARTH OBSERVATION
Slovak Space Office shares an important part of mission objectives with the SCO and has played an active role in SCO projects evaluation and in the initiative’s steering committee. Understanding the importance of democratization of space for the benefit, resilience and efficient development of the European space sector as well as global space community, Slovak Space office also carry out systematic undertaking aimed at supporting the development of emerging space ecosystems and bridging them with well-established players of the global space.
Along with flagship event Emerging Space, Slovak Space Office have already brought this important topic to various major international platforms including UN COPUOS, IAC, or World Expo, and is dedicated to continue in this endeavor.
4 INITIATIVES FOR THE SCO PROJECTS IN SLOVAKIA
Over the past years, a variety of unique projects have emerged in Slovakia covering a wide range of topics relevant to SCO. These include, for example, infrastructure and land deformation and solar radiation monitoring, forest disturbance mapping, meteorological forecasting and modeling, natural habitat monitoring, or early warning systems. All of them provide a solid base for cooperation possibilities. Slovak Space Office invites interested international partners to get in touch and learn more.
Slovakia has achieved significant milestones within the space sector since 2019. Now, with more than 45 companies active the space economy, new technology companies working on their sector entry, running incubation program, hackathons, outreach events, and a strong international partner network, Slovak Space Office looks forward to the new opportunities and challenges that the 21st century’s space creates.
