The Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou spoke to APE MPE about the very satisfactory pace at which the microdiggers programme is progressing, the capabilities of which can be used by local authorities throughout Greece, on the sidelines of the “Cleisthenes” conference that took place in the city.
“We have already launched the first nano- and microsatellites. As far as the operational microsatellites are concerned, the two from ICEYE are already in the air, as well as nanosatellites like Prisma’s MICE and the rest from Democritus University. They are up and giving very important knowledge for us in terms of data, but especially for the people who built them, speaking of nanosatellites. The day after tomorrow, weather permitting, we are launching four more Kapodistrian nano-satellites, one from the University of Athens and one from Planetek, so it is very important that the programme is progressing normally on the schedule that it has. At the end of April we launch the four OroraTech operational microsatellites and that leaves the Open Cosmos optical microsatellites for the summer.”
With regard to the satellite ecosystem, Papastergiou spoke of a unique opportunity for Greece not only in terms of data but mainly in terms of experience and an ecosystem which, he said, has gained visibility and consists of about 90 companies. “We had long ago put on air the RFI (Request for Information) for the large military satellite. Discussions are going on. The Ministry of Defence is looking at the appropriate methods and technical approaches to arrive at which implementation to go ahead with. At the same time, we are looking at every possible way of funding e.g. SAFE or other money that may be found in the next period of time, including for ground infrastructure. For example, the microsatellite programme did not only have equipment in space, but also had optical systems in our observatories, that is to say in the ground stations, in order to further strengthen this system and the ecosystem that has been created,” Papastergiou said.
The double participation in the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Greek astronaut in training
“Space is very important now, as everything goes through space: security, communications, the environment. We have to be there and participate with decent programmes, which is why this year we doubled our participation in the European Space Agency (ESA). To this I would add the initiative we announced the other day for the official participation of Adrianos Golemis in the astronaut training programmes. Adrian has experience as a doctor on space missions, ground experience with astronauts. It is very important to see if we can finally manage to transform this training – if we find the money – into a real participation of Adrianos in one of the training missions in space”, the Minister of Digital Governance explained, referring to Greece’s position in the European Space Agency.
Is the goal to have a first Greek in space at some point? “If we achieve it, yes. If the training goes right and if we manage to support the project in terms of the investment required, it will be very, very important. It’s not just a matter of ‘flying the flag’. There is value in how such initiatives open the horizons of young children, and to understand that what, they mechanically say in school, ‘I want to be an astronaut’, to understand (young people) that if you believe in it and love it, you can make it happen,” Papastergiou said.
The positive economic footprint of New Space in Greece
“Maybe people don’t know it (i.e. that one euro in Space yields 5.5 euros to a country’s economy), people who think that all this is a “luxury” in a hard everyday life, but it is not so. The data and the applications we get from space are extremely important. So what is important for us is to strengthen it, to continue to communicate this and to identify every possible resource since the only problem I would say is the budgetary space, which is why we are taking advantage of European funding such as the Recovery Fund. We will use all the money from the Recovery Fund and more in terms of the space programme and we are also looking to see even at the last minute if there is any money that has not been used in other areas so that we can commit it for such purposes,” the Digital Governance Minister said.
