The ESA’s Joint Board on Communication Satellite Programme met last 6-7 February in Harwell, United Kingdom.
The meeting’s main goals were to approve a set of demonstrative projects in the scope of the Integrated Applications Programme (IAP). Various requests to transfer amounts between ARTES programmes underwritten by different member states were also voted on and approved. A decision was likewise made to approve the cancellation of a number of activities under the Advanced Technology Programme which did not involve projects deemed executable by the ESA or were not received as expected by the space industry of the various member states.
Other topics debated at this meeting concerned the preparation of specific rules of procedure to apply in the future to various ARTES programmes, namely for the IAP’s kick-start activity and for some public-private partnerships, as well as the presentation of reports on the current situation of various telecommunications programmes.
This session also served to review the current situation of technologies, products and systems, specifically regarding the IRIS programme (satellite aeronautics), a programme in the scope of the European Single Sky community policy, coordination between the space and terrestrial components for implementation of 5G networks, and questions concerning the Govsatcom programme.
