Greek space ambitions

Cooperation to make best possible use of Greece’s one satellite

By Yiannis Souliotis - Kathimerini

A year since the country's satellite went into commercial use and a few days after Greece joined the European Space Agency (ESA), state and private organizations are preparing to go into orbit around the Earth.

For the first time ever in Greece, the special secretariats for the information society (KtP) and technology (GGET) are conducting studies into the needs of state and private bodies so as to formulate an overall space policy that will utilize Hellas Sat's capacity for satellite telecommunications.

«Our aim is to improve the way the state administration operates by means of satellite communication with outlying and isolated parts of Greece,» KtP adviser Yiannis Larios told Kathimerini.

The secretariat has secured 11 million euros and will soon announce a competition for a contractor to implement the ambitious project. Larios revealed that the Education Ministry had already expressed an interest in video conferencing and the Defense Ministry in a reserve communications network.

Priority will go to eurozone-related services ensuring ultra-high-speed Internet access with the help of satellite technology.

In the coming six months, GGET will complete an agreement process with state bodies to draft a space policy. «The first draft will be ready in two to three months and the final version in six months. Many agencies are involved and GGET has undertaken to coordinate the effort,» Yiannis Papadakis, Development Ministry official for Greek-ESA relations, told Kathimerini.

The agreement by which Greece joined ESA was signed last July but only ratified by the European Parliament in late January. The official announcement was made last month.

«As of now, Greece must determine and plan its space policy clearly so as to make the best possible use of the opportunities offered by membership of the European space club,» said Manolis Ramos, ESA delegate to Greece.

As he pointed out, big countries such as Germany and France participate in all of the agency's programs. Greece cannot do that, but it has an interest in those applications related to telecommunications and the general development of space technology.

«Due to its geographical peculiarities, it suits Greece to develop technologies related to telecommunications and radio navigation. These are fields from which local industry can benefit,» he added.

The Greek satellite Hellas Sat was launched on May 14, 2003 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA.

Given that Greece is one of the last European countries to take its first steps into space, Hellas Sat is one of the most modern European satellites, supplying powerful service to telecommunications organizations and Internet providers.

The satellite, which is exclusively used for telecommunications, is set at 39 degrees east and covers countries in the European Union, the Middle East and southern Africa. As Hellas Sat communications chief Yiannis Konstantatos told Kathimerini, since the satellite went into commercial operation in September 2003, it has used 50 percent of its capacity.

Greece has since acquired its own space control center and for the next 16 years (until the satellite goes out of commission) it will have total control of it.