How to apply for a GSTP project

Element 1 "Develop"

Element 1 makes up the core of the General Support Technology Programme. The activities performed under Element 1 are dedicated to maturing technologies and techniques, building components, making engineering tools and developing test beds for ESA and National missions, all the way from an engineering prototype, or breadboard, up to qualification.  

GSTP Element 1 is driven by a workplan, which is regularly updated throughout the year.

There are several ways for an entity to perform an activity in the GSTP E1.

Compendium activities: The ESA GSTP Compendium is a list of potential activities that ESA has drafted and which it considers as interesting technologies to develop. Companies and academia can request their national delegations to declare their interest in an activity on this list to ESA, and have the activity placed in the workplan. The workplan is then voted upon by participating Member States (MS) in the Industrial Policy Committee (IPC). Once approved, Member States can formally provide ESA with a letter of support, indicating the amount for which that MS allows their national industry or academia to participate in that particular activity. In case an activity is at least supported for the full amount by one or more member states, the activity can be published on esastar publication , where entities from the corresponding MS can then bid for the activity.

Compendium activities are always tendered in open competition.

Ad-Hoc targeted Proposals: Entities can also have a dedicated activity proposal submitted to the workplan. Often these activities are follow-up activities of de-risking activities, buildingblock activities or TDE activities (see below), but altogether new activities without a heritage in ESA activities are also possible. Together with an ESA Technical Officer, an entity drafts an activity description. Then the national delegation of the corresponding MS has to declare their interest in this activity to ESA. This potential activity then goes through a vetting process within ESA and is finally also voted upon in the IPC. Once the activity is in the workplan, Member States can formally provide ESA with a letter of support and the activity can be published on esastar publication .

In case this type of activity is a follow-up of a previous activity, they will often be tendered in direct negotiation with the concerned entity. In case this is an entirely new activity without specific heritage, the activity can be supported by multiple MS and the activity can be tendered in open competition.

Framework activities: Framework activities are activities that are pre-approved at the IPC, they have a limited scope, duration and budget.

1. Assessments to prepare and de-risk technology developments: These are activities to assess the benefits and critical issues of a new technology, or to prepare a development plan of a technology and the development actions, schedule and cost associated to it. The maximum cost is 200 k€ for experimental works (breadboarding/testing included) or 80 k€ for studies. The maximum duration is 9 months. Applications can be submitted on this ESA ideas webpage . Before any application a Letter of Support has to be provided by BELSPO.
2. Preparation of enabling space technologies and Building Blocks: These are activities to prepare and develop enabling capabilities and the associated building blocks for space related systems and the associated . sub-systems. These type of activities and their contracts consist of nominal technology development activities with a set of typical deliveries. The maximum activity cost is 500 k€ and the maximum duration 18 months. Applications can be submitted on this ESA ideas webpage . Before any application a Letter of Support has to be provided by BELSPO.
3. Advanced Manufacturing: These are activities to assess the use of Advanced Manufacturing technologies to improve and expand space hardware capabilities. It involves selecting products that show the potential to benefit from AM technologies and making preliminary designs or breadboards to verify to added value before preparing a development and qualification plan. The maximum activity cost is 250 k€ and the maximum duration 12 months. ESA is currently reworking the way to apply for this type of framework activities, please contact BELSPO for the latest procedure.
   
   Note: For all Framework activities, the national delegation needs to provide a letter of support to ESA. These type of activities are then tendered in direct negotiation.

Entities need to contact BELSPO for steps that require a declaration of interest to ESA and for all letters of support. At that time BELSPO, can require companies and academia to present the activity, present the entity itself, how the activity fits into its strategy, the budget and timing of the activity, the long term development strategy of the technology and the return on investment for Belgium for this activity. For activities that are close to the market, co-funding can be asked by BELSPO.

More information regarding Element 1

Element 2 "Make"

The GSTP Element 2 “Make” addresses industry driven co-funded activities enabling the development of technologies and products for market competitiveness and sustainability. These type of activities have to be close to the market and have a higher start and end Technology Readiness Level (TRL) as compared with Element 1 activities.

Industry interested in an element 2 activity, first need to present their idea for an activity to BELSPO. Such a presentation at the very least includes the technical explanation of the products or services to be made, an analysis of the budget and timing of the activity, the overall strategy of the company and how this activity fits into that, and the return on investment for Belgium for the products or services that will eventually be marketed.

In case BELSPO decides to support this activity, the actor involved can start the procedure explained in detail on a dedicated ESA ideas webpage . This involved drafting an outline proposal, iterating on the content with ESA GSTP office and a technical officer and finally drafting a full proposal. Element 2 Make activities are tendered in direct negotiation.

In Element 2 Make, co-funding is mandatory. Depending on the TRL of the activity, the status of your entity (SME or not) the funding BELSPO will provide is between 50% and 75% of the total budget of the activity. Specific rules apply for consortia consisting of industry and universities or research centres.