ESA and Inmarsat launch Applications Development Initiative for Alphasat

The Alphasat I-XL satellite is being developed through a public private partnership (PPP) between Inmarsat and ESA. Alphasat will provide coverage over Europe, the Middle East and Africa from the end of 2012 and will support existing and future Inmarsat services.

As part of the PPP agreement, ESA and Inmarsat are launching the Alphasat Applications Development Initiative to promote the development of innovative applications based on Inmarsat’s BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) and GSPS (Global Handheld Service) services. This initiative will also support the design and development of new products and services to exploit Alphasat’s enhanced capabilities.

In an Open Call For Proposals to be issued in March 2011, companies will be invited to apply for ESA funding to develop and trial applications addressing new and/or under-served markets. Access to bench testing facilities, satellite air time for over-the-air testing may be provided by Inmarsat upon request to the selected bidders.

To prepare for the Open Call For Proposals, ESA and Inmarsat invite companies to submit an expression of Interest to the Open Call by filling out and submitting the special declaration of interest form . A link to the form is also located under "Documentation" in the column to the right.

If you would like to attend the workshop in London, please send an email to Xavier_Bouthors@inmarsat.com. The workshop aims at presenting the Alphasat Application Development Initiative and open the forum for general Q&A. Participants at this workshop will have the opportunity to request a one-to-one meeting discussion with ESA and Inmarsat. For those who will not be able to travel to London, WebEx based facilities will be made available to connect remotely with the general presentation of the workshop.

While the Alphasat Applications workshop is open to all companies, participation in the Alphasat Applications Call for Proposals to obtain ESA funding is limited to companies located in ESA Member States participating in the ARTES 8 Alphasat Ground and User Segment programme. Currently these countries are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and United Kingdom. For companies located in an ESA Member State but not currently participating in the Alphasat programme, the support of their delegations will have to be confirmed for ESA to be in a position to a place a contract. Please contact ESA (andreas.mauroschat@esa.int) if you need support in addressing your delegation.

For more information, see the contact link in the column to the right.

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Published 16 January 2013
Last updated at 03 September 2014 - 08:23