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.

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.

Next year, in addition to hosting delegations from Italy and France and visiting Algeria, the Slovenian Space Office also plans a visit to the US (Colorado Springs and Washington) and Canada.

The goal of the US visit is to meet with US companies, have a mutual presentation and establish tangible partnerships.

"We've recently received a signal from our embassy in Washington that not only SpaceX, but also Amazon and other leading US companies are showing interest in cooperating with our companies."

The next step is to assess the readiness and interest of Slovenian companies so that a list of potential partners could be prepared.

Permozer is confident that the Slovenian space sector has a lot to offer. "Our priorities include the development of applications, advanced materials and measuring devices, where we have extensive experience and competitive solutions."

In addition to bilateral activities, Slovenia is also gearing up for the next meeting of the ESA Council of Ministers, which Permozer says will be a major turning point for the further development of the Slovenian space sector.

The industry has experienced a major expansion since Slovenia became an ESA associate member in 2016, with over 30 Slovenian partners having signed 114 contracts with the ESA worth a total of €42.1 million. The amount is to reach €50 million by the end of the year.

Membership fee not a cost but investment

The geographical return, by which ESA measures the performance of a country, is above one for Slovenia, which is exceptional. "This means that we recover more than 100% of the funds invested."

With large countries such as France, Italy and Germany usually achieving around a 90% return, Permozer sees the advantage of Slovenia as a small country in the adaptability, speed and responsiveness of companies.

She says the geo-return rate will remain high even with the annual membership fee increasing from €500,000 to €2.8 million. As a full member, Slovenia will be able to recover up to 45% of this amount through a special programme designed to support and integrate new members and strengthen their capabilities in the space sector.

The membership fee is not too high because "investing in space technology is not a cost, but an important investment", without which Slovenia would quickly fall behind in the global ranking of technologically advanced countries.

ESA membership does not only benefit businesses, but also every individual directly, because life as we know it today is based on space technologies. "Services have become a given but in fact they are the result of decades of research, innovation and investment in space technologies," Permozer says.

Leading niche players

Space technologies also play an essential role in dealing with environmental challenges and natural disasters, and Slovenia is currently participating in a large ESA project as part of which a digital twin of the country is being developed.

"This system will enable prediction and prevention of the consequences of natural disasters, such as floods and fires. Based on satellite data, we will be able to better plan protective measures and reduce the consequences of future disasters."

Although Slovenia is a small country, its space sector stands out in the international environment, especially in niche areas, and Slovenian companies are successful in Earth observation, technological solutions and human and robotic research.

"Our companies and institutes develop advanced measuring devices, satellites and solutions for managing health challenges in space," Permozer says.

One of the only three centres that study the effect of weightlessness on the human body is located in Slovenia, at the Planica Nordic Centre, and Slovenia is also active in developing advanced food for astronauts.

The Slovenian space sector currently participates in five ESA programmes - Earth observation, human and robotic research, general technologies, telecommunications and scientific research as part of the Prodex programme.

An effort is being made for Slovenia to be included in the secure connectivity programme with emphasis on ensuring secure communications between space and Earth and vice versa.

"Although ESA does not officially talk about defence, but about security, this aspect will probably gain importance, as data protection and communication security are key to the future of space technologies."

Promoting space technologies among young

There is potential for the development of new areas, but Slovenia is limited when it comes to the available specialised professional staff who could implement projects, Permozer notes.

For this reason, Slovenian companies have started to recruit staff from abroad, and they also plan to put more emphasis on raising awareness and training future staff.

"We want to show young people that space is not only rockets, planets and astronauts, but also work and research on Earth, where space technologies are developed." The space sector offers many opportunities.

To this end, the Slovenian branch of the European Space Education Resource Office was established this year to promote space technology in kindergartens and primary and secondary schools.

Progress has also been achieved with new study programmes, such as SpaceMed, which Slovenia runs in cooperation with Germany and France, while the University of Maribor is developing a study programme with space content in cooperation with ESA.

Nevertheless, a lot of work still needs to be done in raising awareness of the importance of space, Permozer admits.