Pappas reacts to taunting over Greek space agency announcement
Minster of Digital Policy, Media and Telecommunications Nikos Pappas admitted on Tuesday that some of the sarcastic comments posted on social media in response to his announcement on Monday that he will table a bill inaugurating Greece’s first space agency, were “inspired,” but called on people to take the issue more seriously.
“I have read a lot of the humorous posts on social media about the National Center for Space Applications and some were, admittedly, inspired,” he said, adding, however, that, “jokes apart, and the trolls of some political parties, we must deal seriously with an issue that lies at the heart of national sovereignty and security.”
In the statement on Monday, the ministry said the agency will be a public limited company called the National Center for Space Applications (EKDE), aimed at “making up for the country’s huge deficit in this area.”
“The launch of the Hellas Sat satellite this year will create important commercial opportunities, which will be developed by a space policy agency along European lines,” the announcement said, adding that EKDE will have the right to lease transponders that are not being used by the Greek state and will also act as an intermediary between Greek and international centers in the fields of commercial, scientific and military research.
