Jorge Domecq, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA), met with Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) on 2 February.
At the bilateral meeting, Chief Executive Domecq and Director General Wörner discussed ongoing and future cooperation between the two Agencies. The EDA and ESA signed an Administrative Arrangement in June 2011 with the aim of providing a structured relationship and ensuring mutually beneficial cooperation through coordination of their respective activities. This cooperation fosters coordinated research, technology and demonstration activities and facilitates the realisation of synergies between existing EDA and ESA programmes and their future evolution. The Administrative Arrangement has led to the agreement of a number of Implementing Arrangements on a variety of topics.
Between December 2017 and January 2018, three Implementing Arrangements were signed:
- Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMS): A joint study will assess the technical and business viability of potential services based on space and UMS that could support a variety of operational activities such as the protection of critical maritime infrastructure or maritime surveillance and explore the combination of UMS and space technologies in terms of service provision as compared to other existing technologies.
- GOVSATCOM: The EDA and ESA aim to maximise synergies between their respective activities in the field of Governmental Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM) and support the European Commission in its efforts for preparing an EU GOVSATCOM initiative. EDA activities focus on operational aspects and on the acquisition and implementation environment of GOVSATCOM via its GOVSATCOM Pooling & Sharing Demonstration Project.
- Earth Observation: A joint study will elaborate mission concepts and a roadmap of technologies needed for future security Earth observation missions.