Credit: AEE
The Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities has announced a €70 million call for funding to support the development and maturation of disruptive space technologies.
The call for proposals for the Space Technologies Programme (PTE) 2024 was announced on May 18 and aims to provide €70 million in funding for projects within two thematic areas: “New Space: Satellite Constellations” and “Bottom-up Space Technologies Maturity”.
The PTE 2024 call will be funded under Spain’s Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) Aerospace Program, which aims to mobilize more than 4.5 billion euros between 2021 and 2025 to fund projects that will position Spain as a world leader in the aerospace industry.
Project proposals in the “New Space: Constellations” theme will focus on developing a new product, process or service that significantly improves the mass production capability of a space system at the subsystem or payload level. Projects in the “Bottom-up Space Technology Maturity” theme will require maturing a space technology that has the potential to cause market disruption or meet significant commercial demand.
According to the call, €40 million of the total allocation will be used for projects in the “Bottom-up Space Technology Maturity” theme, of which €16 million will be dedicated to projects by SMEs. The remaining €30 million will be dedicated to projects in the “New Space: Satellite Constellations” theme. The call also clarifies that projects that are currently funded or may be funded in the future by the European Space Agency are not eligible for funding through the initiative.
The Spanish Center for Industrial and Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI) and the Spanish Space Agency will jointly manage the PTE 2024 initiative. Under the initiative’s terms, work on selected projects must begin in 2024 and be completed by December 31, 2026.
Spain is bullish on space
On May 16, Spain’s Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, held her first working meeting with Juan Carlos Cortes, the new head of the Spanish Space Agency. After the meeting, Morant explained that Spain’s space sector is key to the country’s economic growth.
“The Spanish space industry contributes to strengthening the economic growth of our country,” Morant said. “Every euro invested in the space industry generates a return of up to four euros for our economy.”
