EU NASA will now be in Prague. With a budget of almost 260 billion
The European Union wants to stay at the forefront of world space research. Therefore, a new control center for all EU space programs is being established in Prague. For the Czech capital, this means an influx of billions of crowns for the location of the new agency and the creation of jobs for hundreds of top experts and European officials.
The EU has big plans for the space industry. “The European Union’s space industry operates in a quarter of a million jobs, and that number could almost double by 2025,” said Rodrigo da Costa, the executive director of the new agency. The GSA, based in Prague today, will become the basis for the new EU Space Program Agency (EUSPA). This will significantly expand not only the activity, but also the number of employees, by three times. A new headquarters will also be needed, as the current one on the banks of the Vltava will no longer be enough.
Your “Mr Europe”
Luboš Palata (* 1967)
Specialist for the European Union and Central Europe. Since 1991 he has been working as a journalist in the largest Czech dailies, for several years he was a permanent foreign correspondent and also deputy editor-in-chief of the Slovak daily Pravda. Winner of several Czech and foreign journalistic awards, including the Ferdinand Peroutka Award.
The GSA has already successfully launched the Galileo navigation system, which is now used by over a billion people worldwide. The main tasks of the new EUSPA will be the full use of the Kopernicus land monitoring system as well as the construction of a protected satellite system for communication between the EU institutions or the near-space monitoring system.
“It’s a big leap forward. The Prague agency is taking over all major EU space programs, “said Evžen Tošenovský (ODS), MEP, who has been involved in negotiations on the establishment of the agency for years.
At the beginning of May, the European Parliament approved both the establishment of the agency and the budget for its activities. The Prague Control Center will become one of the large institutions in the EU.
Our space industry
EUSPA will continue to work with the European Space Agency (ESA), which also includes non-EU countries such as the United Kingdom. That is why the Union wanted to create a center for space activities in Prague, which they will have full control over.
“The location of the agency in Prague will also be needed for Czech companies in the space industry, although of course they will have to fight for contracts,” said Tošenovský.
According to him, the current Czech government still underestimates the importance and contribution of our space industry with sixty companies and many hundreds of employees.
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