NAVISP - How to apply

Proposals for ESA-initiated activities (NAVISP Element 1 workplan activities) will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Applicants are invited to present the project for evaluation. Please contact Belspo at least 4 weeks before the ESA deadline.

Proposals for industry-initiated activities (NAVISP Element 2 and 3) will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Industry is invited to submit their outline proposal as basis for the evaluation.

Please contact corneel.bogaert@belspo.be to submit your proposal or to plan a project presentation.

Element 1

The tenders under Element 1 are populated via a yearly workplan and are fully funded.

Each application received is assessed in competition with other proposal applications. All aspects of the statement of work in the description of the activity need to be covered. It is possible to participate as part of a consortium, but an industrial partner is not required. Exceptionally, some parts of element 1 activities may be indicated by specific clauses favouring the involvement of SMEs such as C3 (activities limited to SMEs and R&D organisations, preferably in cooperation) and C4 (activities in open competition subject to the SME subcontracting).

In order to submit a proposal you must be registered on the ESA-STAR platform. Submission is not possible without prior written approval of the national delegate. An authorisation of ESA funding (AOF) from Belspo is required to submit the proposal.

Element 2

Proposals are issued through a continuous open call capable of stimulating unsolicited proposals. The pre-commercial nature of this programme element requires a co-funded approach.

Outline proposals can be submitted via ESA’s Open Space Innovation Platform.

To proceed to submit a full Element 2 proposal, an authorisation of ESA funding (AOF) from Belspo is required.

Belspo requires the evaluation material (either the project presentation or outline proposal) to contain at least the following information:

Basic information: ESA reference, project name, consortium members, budget and funding level.
Role or position of the project within the BE entity roadmap, product roadmap or strategy.
Description of technology, product or service and project work breakdown structure.
Budget breakdown, including detail of external sources and (intended) countries of provenance.
Market, overview of competition and business case (including ROM cost for further development phases and intended funding sources).
Return on investment, link with national strategies and priorities or socio-economic benefits for Belgium.

In the document “BELSPO_Evaluation_Form_v202603.pdf", you can find the evaluation criteria and associated weighting factors that BELSPO will use in the evaluation of projects. Projects that score 60 or higher are eligible for support.

The evaluation criteria may include sections which might not always be present in the ESA outline proposal. Please check the evaluation criteria against your outline proposal to ensure all criteria are covered in your proposal. Feel free to resubmit your outline proposal if you had already submitted it.

Proposals may be shared by the Belgian Science Policy Office with the Belgian Defence to assess the possibility to support the activity in the frame of their space research cooperation. Note that this has no impact on the funding nor supported amount. If you prefer not for your proposal to be shared with the Belgian Defence, please inform BELSPO timely.