Malta’s Space Ambitions Soar: ESA Launches Second PECS Call For Local Innovation
On 8th January 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) opened the second PECS call for tenders for Malta, a call which is open to the local private and public sectors and to academic institutions, for them to be able to conduct research and development activities related to Space.
The Plan for a European Cooperating State (PECS) agreement is a five-year plan, put together by ESA and Xjenza Malta to cater for the needs of Malta to develop a Space sector based on the country’s capacity.
These tenders allow local stakeholders to submit project proposals to conduct research in the various sectors of Space, namely Space Upstream, Space Downstream and Space Education. In each call, the ESA establishes several criteria that are adapted to ensure the necessary growth and development of a local Space ecosystem.
The main advantage of PECS is that it acts as an incubator for domestic stakeholders to compete for ESA tenders on a national level. This guarantees that local contenders can bid for tenders without having to compete with companies and institutions from other European countries, who have more experience and resources. Local stakeholders are able to form collaborations with other domestic partners and with foreign counterparts who are able to contribute towards the project as subcontractors.
“PECS provides a platform where Maltese stakeholders can compete on a national level for ESA projects without facing competition from other European countries that have more experience and resources. This helps lay the groundwork for a flourishing Space sector in our country,” Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Research and Innovation the Hon. Keith Azzopardi Tanti said.
“ESA PECS encourages partnerships which provide local industry with the potential to grow, diversify and influence Space Technology, with projects that help local companies evolve and attract foreign direct investment,” Addressing the press conference, Mr Silvio Scerri CEO of Xjenza Malta said. “This initiative will give local research teams the opportunity to submit proposals to work on a broad range of ESA projects, providing them with a platform to work within the ESA framework and contributing towards large scale international Space projects,” Mr Scerri added.
“The PECS funding scheme aims to develop the space related competences in Malta such as activities in education, research and industrial development, while furthering international cooperation,” Stephen Airey, Head of PECS, European Space Agency (ESA) remarked. “The scheme covers all space related topics including hardware and software development for satellites and the development and use of software applications based on satellite data that can be relevant to such wide range of users such as agriculture, tourism, city planners and many more,” Airey added.
In this second PECS call, researchers and operators from the private and public sectors and from academia, are encouraged to submit proposals by applying through the ESA Star registration platform.
More information about the call criteria can be found on the ESA Star platform and on the Xjenza Malta website.
This call will remain open until 13.00 of the 19th February 2025.
For more information about the call, contact the Space Unit at Xjenza Malta by email at [email protected]