Call for Ideas Information Day, April 28 2015

Bernhard Hufenbach, Head of the Strategic Planning Office in the Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Operations, welcomed the first ESA consolidated strategy for space exploration.

This strategy sets a clear strategic framework for space exploration and enables ESA to look now for partners with novel ideas. Partnership proposals coming from the private sector will help implement the strategy and stimulate economic growth.

The partnership idea should be in scope with the ESA strategy for space exploration and a good understanding of it is essential to finalise and submit a partnership idea by May 26 2015.

Bernhard Hufenbach stressed that the Call for ideas represents an opportunity for Europe to find its own way for opening opportunities for private sector initiatives in the field of space exploration. He compared it to the on-going commercial activities started by NASA more than ten years ago, such as the successful commercial cargo resupply to the International Space Station (ISS).

Other speakers from ESA were Jacques Masson, ISS senior programme engineer in the Development and future Programmes division and Bérengère Houdou, Head of the Lunar Lander Office. LLuc Díaz, representative of the ESA Technology and Transfer Office Programme (TTPO) was also present.

To help mature your ideas, you can now watch a summary of the Information Day and listen to the main Q&A addressed:

- Partners for space exploration

- Partnership ideas for space exploration

- What happens to my partnership idea?

- Intellectual Property Rights