Adoption of the ESA grand Challenge Statute
At the recent Ministerial Council meeting held in Lucerne, Switzerland on 30 November 2016, a high level Statute was adopted alongside the ESA Grand Challenge mechanism.
It defines a set of principles applicable to all possible challenges that may arise.
The Statute states the general purpose of the ESA Grand Challenge which is to support effective R&D, foster innovation and encourage entrepreneurs in space research and technology development.
It provides a general framework of rules to be further elaborated according to specific requirements requested by each challenge: objective, budget and conditions for participation.
Under the Statute, an independent panel comprises experienced professionals appointed by ESA. The statute outlines some preliminary characteristics of the evaluation criteria governing the procedure in order to guarantee transparency and effectiveness for all participants.
The full text of the ESA Grand Challenge Statute is available at: https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/corporate/ESA_Grand_Challenge.pdf
