Education Ministry Announces Call to Support Slovakia's Space Industry

Bratislava, October 22 (TASR) - The Education Ministry has announced a call for research and development projects concerning space technologies called 'SPACE - Top Research and Development from Idea to Product', with €10 million being allocated for the call, TASR learnt from the ministry's communication department on Tuesday. "Many start-ups have shown considerable potential in the space industry. Such challenges will allow us to strengthen cooperation with other countries in the field of technology, science and innovation, which will open new opportunities for joint projects and missions," said Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD). Priority will be given to projects with international potential that will contribute to Slovakia's involvement in the activities of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU Space Programme. "Those that will bring competitive results on a global level and strengthen Slovakia's position in the field of space technologies," specified the ministry. The ministry explained that the money should contribute to further increasing the international competitiveness of researchers and Slovak companies in areas such as electrical engineering, software development and mechanical engineering. "They will strengthen their ability to obtain ESA contracts and projects within EU programmes," added the ministry. Slovakia became an associate member of the ESA in 2022. The project is supported from the European Regional Development Fund under the Programme Slovakia. The call will be open until the end of March 2025. ko/mcs