TELECOMMUNICATIONS: ESA LAUNCHES NEW ROUND OF FUNDING FOR SME PROJECTS.

• Position: European Space Agency

"When we introduced the scheme last year, we were impressed by the variety of ideas put forward," explains ESA's director of applications, Claudio Mastracci. "Building on our experience with the first initiative, we have fine-tuned the scheme to increase flexibility and the support we provide throughout the application process. We look forward to seeing many more interesting proposals with the potential to enhance the competitiveness of the European and Canadian satcom industries."Technical and financial support (of up to EUR 300,000) will be offered to companies selected to join the scheme to develop their concepts to a level where commercial funding can be sought. The planned funding could be granted to develop new uses for existing satellite technologies (to provide new Internet, multimedia, location-based communication or mobile applications) or to support new systems and technologies with the potential to improve existing services.Two levels of finance are envisaged, according to the commercial maturity of the proposals:a) financial support of up to 100% (with a ceiling of Euro 300,000) for validating concepts in early stages of development involving innovative technologies with high commercial and/or technical risks;b) financial support of up to 50% (with...