Subject to approval by the Council of Ministers, a dedicated Space call in the frame of the Defence-related Research Action, DEFRA, will be launched soon.
During a dedicated information day (in Dutch or French) (28 January 2026), the DEFRA team will present the objectives, the themes and modalities of this thematic call for proposals to researchers from both the public and private sector. It’s an excellent opportunity to start your network!
The DEFRA Space call covers the following research themes, with their indicative budget:
| THEMES DEFRA SPACE CALL | Indicative budget (in M€) |
|---|---|
| Theme 1 - Earth Obeservation | 10.0 |
| Theme 2 - Space Situational Awareness | 6.0 |
| TOTAL | 16.0 |
For both themes, projects will have a duration of minimum 2 and maximum 4 years.
| Activity | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Information session (in Dutch or French) | 28 January 2026 |
| Deadline Pre-proposals | 19 February 2026 (14h00) |
| Communication of evaluation result pre-proposals | 23 March 2026 |
| Deadline Full proposals | 4 May 2026 (14h00) |
| Remote scientific peer review evaluation | 5 May - 1 June 2026 |
| Ethical evaluation | 5 May – 15 June 2026 |
| Feedback to applicants in preparation of panel meeting (consensus reports & questions to applicants) |
30 June 2026 |
| Written feedback by applicants (answers) | 31 July 2026 |
| Panel evaluation, incl. interviews with the applicants | Between 10 August and 2 September 2026 |
| Selection proposal formulated by the scientific committee of the RHID | 10 September 2026 |
| Final selection of proposals by the board of directors of the RHID and allocation of projects | 1 October 2026 |
| Communication of results to applicants | 6 October 2026 |
| Signature contracts | 16 November 2026 |
Call information
Template for the Pre-proposal:
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The pre-proposals as well as the full proposals must be electronically created, elaborated and submitted via the online submission platform.
The templates for the pre-proposal and the full proposal are made available on the website. However, after the evaluation of the pre-proposals, for theme 1 a maximum of ten pre-proposals, for theme 2 a maximum of 5 pre-proposals, will be invited to submit a full proposal.
A new submission platform is being developed. More information will follow soon.
