Slovenia becoming part of space elite

Tanja Permozer, head of the Slovenian Space Office, sees full membership in the European Space Agency (ESA) as an important recognition that makes Slovenia part of the space elite. Major players in the space industry are showing interest in cooperation, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Slovenia will become a full member of ESA on 1 January 2025 after more than 15 years of efforts to join. The Slovenian Space Office, part of the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport, has played an instrumental role in these efforts.

It has coordinated all space-related activities with the entire national space ecosystem - from ministries to companies and academic institutions. The office participates in all ESA programmes and makes sure that Slovenia is included in international space projects.

Full membership gives Slovenia voting rights and the opportunity to participate in two flagship programmes - the Science Core Technology Programme and the Science Programme, and paves the way for a Slovenian space agency to be established.

Currently the Slovenian space sector is not yet mature enough for a national space agency, Permozer says, expressing the hope that such an agency could be established within five years.

Slovenia attracting interest of tech giants

Interest in cooperation with Slovenia surged right after the country signed the agreement on full membership last June.

"I started receiving calls from companies such as Airbus, Safran and Thales, which want to get to know our industry. We used to have to constantly work to attract attention of these major players, and now the situation has completely flipped - they are knocking on our door."

Full membership also brings additional opportunities for cooperation with other international agencies and countries, with Slovenia having already signed agreements with the Italian, French and Luxembourgian agencies.

Slovenia has also joined the Artemis Accords, non-binding multilateral arrangements between the US and other countries on the norms expected to be followed in outer space, and is in talks with Algeria, Brazil, India, French Guiana and Japan.

"As new markets, such as Brazil and Algeria, are opening up, we are interested in specific projects. We are not only interested in exchanging information, but are looking for direct results on both sides," Permozer says.