On Thursday 25 January, we were pleased to welcome Christophe van der Maat, state secretary for defence, on a visit to SBIC Noordwijk. The defence ministry visit saw several ESA BIC startups and technical partners pitching their innovations at SBIC and, then later, joining the space industry discussion at the Long-Term Space Agenda for the Netherlands launch at a reception at Space Expo. With the launch of this agenda, parties emphasise the strategic importance of space as a critical infrastructure for the Netherlands.
Defence ministry visit to SBIC Noordwijk
The state secretary for defence and accompanying delegation were hosted at SBIC Noordwijk in the afternoon as the concluding visit on a tour of NL Space Campus (view full report here). Martijn Leinweber (COO of SBIC) gave an introduction and provided an overview of the programmes offered, with a key emphasis on the European Space Agency’s business incubation centre (ESA BIC Noordwijk). A number of the current ESA BIC incubatees (Spherical Systems and Revolv Space) and technical partners (Airbus and HDES), alumnus (Lens R&D), plus organisations from the space business community (Clemessy and Stellar Space Industries) had the opportunity to present their innovations to the state secretary for defence. Representatives then moved to SpaceExpo and Spherical Systems was also to be seen on the podium in the discussion that followed.
Long-term space agenda for the Netherlands
The launch of the long-term space agenda, Vanuit de ruimte, voor de aarde (“From space, for the Earth”), was warmly welcomed at an early-evening reception at SpaceExpo organised by the Netherlands Space Office (NSO), SpaceNed and NL Space Campus.
The presentation was made by former minister Maria van der Hoeven to Minister Micky Adriaansens of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate in the presence of State Secretary Christophe van der Maat of the Ministry of Defense. A perspective highlighted by NSO is that it is extremely important that this agenda is endorsed by several ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
It has been noted that the agenda is a good start but it is now important to move forward, take the next steps and invest in space. A Steering Committee, consisting of representatives of the ministries (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science) worked together with the wider sector and the regional science and space industries to draw up this new agenda. It presents the Dutch vision, ambition and missions to continue to play a role on the world stage.
Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate) commented: “The Netherlands is now faced with the question of whether we want to remain an important player in space in the next 10 to 15 years. As far as I’m concerned, the answer is: yes. After all, the technologies in this sector make a proven contribution to our infrastructure, security, climate goals and economy. This ambitious long-term space agenda is good advice for the (future) cabinet to be able to make more efforts and investments.” View the full news item here.
Long-term space agenda: “The report includes six goals to improve the position of the Netherlands and bring it back to the level by 2035 at which other countries within and outside Europe have accelerated their investments in the sector. In order to achieve the missions, the Netherlands must comply with the three-yearly investment standards (mandatory and optional) of the European Space Agency (ESA) and make additional national investments in space.”
Download the agenda (in Dutch)
Build the space future
In an interview when asked whether the Dutch space ambition is broader than participating in new satellite missions, the director of NSO Harm van de Wetering commented: “Space is all around us and indispensable in our daily lives. It is important for a safe living environment, in the fight against climate change, it is relevant for agriculture and other sectors that work with navigation and communication technology. With this knowledge in mind, we can choose: do we, as a customer, look at how space is developing? Or do we help build the space future ourselves and make money from it? With this agenda we say: space is of strategic importance to the Netherlands. We want to play a strong role internationally in this domain.”
Missions at the forefront of the space agenda
According to SpaceNed, “the Netherlands has a unique knowledge and technological position in this area to excel in. With contributions to, among other things, our national security, dike monitoring and climate measurements. According to the sector that has pushed for the creation of this agenda, the agenda is a good start, but it is now important to move forward, take the next steps and invest in space.”
The missions in the long-term space agenda include:
- security, military capacity in space and (co-)developing satellite communications, navigation and earth observation;
- climate, global leader in measuring emissions and use of satellite data for water and agriculture;
- science, develop high-quality space instruments for scientific breakthroughs, and ensure that this knowledge also goes to the market for non-space technology;
- data, governments and service providers make better use of satellite data;
- economic growth, sector turnover triples and better use of NL Space Campus; and
- international agreements, promote additional UN agreements for the well-regulated use of space.
Credit for the photos taken at SBIC Noordwijk: Corneel Bogaert
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