1. E:SpresenNijs presentation2014_06_09_applications for BE.docx
Space Applications for BE
June 19th 2014
J. Nijskens
(Space department of Belspo)
Mesdames, Messieurs,
Dames et Heren,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
BELSPO (Belgian Science Policy Office) is proud to welcome you at
our event : 'Space applications for Belgium' and I'm very pleased to
see so many people in this room - more than 200 inscriptions.
I'm J N Director of the Space department of Belspo (Belgian Science
Policy office) which is in charge of managing the Belgian contribution
to international space programmes, invested mainly through the ESA
framework but also through bilateral agreements such as our
cooperation with France (SPOT, Pleiades, Vegetation), our
cooperation with Argentina (Saocom) and last but not least through
our own EO research programme STEREO.

2. E:SpresenNijs presentation2014_06_09_applications for BE.docx
Belgium invests a lot in space as confirmed once more during the last
ESA Ministerial Council which took place in Naples in November
2012. During the preparation of that meeting our Council of Ministers
decided to allocate 203 M€ yearly for space activities and this for a
five year period covering 2013-2017.
We have largely debriefed the results of that ministerial Council
highlighting the programmes supported by Belgium, some of these
being of high importance to support space applications. It was asked,
during the preparation of the ESA ministerial council, to try and
enlarge the number of actors from the 'classic industry actors and
scientific actors/researchers' usually involved. We are convinced that
it is in the domain of space applications that we can reach that goal.
When we speak about Space applications and Services, we often look
to the most promising and mature sector which is the one of telecom.
In this sector, it is well known that the service providers occupy the
most important role in the value chain.

3. E:SpresenNijs presentation2014_06_09_applications for BE.docx
Let's give some figures - It was quoted by the European Satellite
Operators Association for the year 2012:
That the market value amounts
7 B$ for the manufacturing companies
14 B$ for the operators (twice the previous one)
5 B$ for the terminal manufacturers
110 B$ for the service providers (4 time the 3 other together)
There are other fields such as Navigation and Earth observation,
which have not reached the same maturity but where it is expected
that the ratio between services and infrastructure is of the same order
of magnitude.
Speaking of markets, for sure beside the private markets there are also
the institutional markets which do not exactly follow the same rules,
but for which applications and services are needed for the society.
These have to be supported by the public sector, as is the case for the
services initiated and supported by the European Commission in Earth
observation.

4. E:SpresenNijs presentation2014_06_09_applications for BE.docx
It is evident that having invested a lot in infrastructures, we have to do
more to prepare our actors to tackle these markets.
This is the raison why we have organised this meeting today, to
inform you about the programmes from different sources (ESA, EC,
National, ...) which can help the Belgian actors to develop applications
and services.
Since we are not starting from scratch we will also have presentations
about success stories to illustrate what is possible.
The day will end with a round table which I hope will identify, if any,
the bottlenecks or shortages in the chain from infrastructure to
sustainable services as well as the measures needed to remove these.
Let me also announce that BELSPO will support the "Space Days
2014" (October 13th and 14th at Redu), organized by Wallonie
Espace.

5. E:SpresenNijs presentation2014_06_09_applications for BE.docx
Lastly let me inform you that besides the budgetary means available in
the programmes dedicated to supporting the creation of applications
and services, we have decided to join an initiative of ESA which
consist in the appointment of an ARTES applications Broker, this
person will be presented to you in the afternoon during the IAP
presentation of ESA.
I wish you a good and fruitful day.