Space Iceland want to link stakeholders together to foster the creation of a National Space Plan. We are mapping Iceland’s activities and potentials and attempting to build a grassroots of enthusiasts, industry, science and policymakers. We want to be the voice of Iceland’s space aspirations, push debate, further development, advance policies and service the industry.
| SPACE OFFICE | SPACE CLUSTER | SPACE LOBBY |
| The Space Office will be a service entity that helps connect people, advice and provides general assistance to members. This can include everything from helping out with permits to welcoming foreign investors. The aim here is to minimise the costs of Space bureaucracy and nurture development. | The Space Cluster is what we call projects where entities must cluster together and combine skills to bid on larger projects. The Cluster is modelled after local clusters like Iceland Ocean Cluster and The Icelandic Institute for Intelligent Machines to name some. | The Space lobby is our political work where we make sure politicians and institutions are convinced of the benefits of investing and supporting a Space related industry. This is where we push for Science funding, ESA application, etc and try to speak on behalf of stakeholders |
ESA has provided Iceland with a roadmap on PECS-talks. (Plan for European Cooperating States) The ESA Convention provides different types of cooperation on the road to membership. The next step for Iceland is to request talks formally. This means a decision has to be made on which ministry will handle the application. We have had discussions with some ministries and continue to push action. This, however, is not our decision.
Even without membership funding for Space-related activities and startups is available. As members, Iceland will have ESA BIC available to us. Until then, however, we should be proactive in nurturing business development and startups. Space Iceland has reached out to partners on this in the hope to create an incubator, assistance in funding and networking.
Since February, Space Iceland has actively engaged with policymakers, agencies, industry and Space offices in Europe to gather knowledge and learn from those that are further along. “Start an Icelandic CubeSat Project” is consistent advice. In Iceland, the possibility of a CubeSat Project has been discussed and pops up as an idea every now and then. We have taken this to heart and are now looking into how to make this happen.
Thor Fanndal
[+354 888 2103 ][ [email protected] }
Alfa Bjornsdottir