Funding Initiatives

At the end of March 2020, ESA announced the first of a number of funding calls to address challenges caused by the pandemic by taking advantage of space products and services.

‘Space in response to the COVID-19 outbreak’ was launched in collaboration with the Italian Minister for Technological Innovation and Digitalisation, with the support of the Italian Space Agency and other countries, and focussed on health and education. Over 120 outline proposals were received from 16 countries in just a few weeks.

Another ESA funding initiative in mid-April addressed the requirements of the National Health Service in the UK in collaboration with the UK Space Agency. The first three projects chosen for funding through ‘Space helping UK on COVID-19 and other pandemics’ were:

Drones to deliver medical supplies and samples from a hospital on the mainland to remote locations, including islands, in Scotland.

An app for charities and organizations to support young people’s mental health and wellbeing in Bristol.

An app using space data analytics to identify ‘hidden’ communities that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19 due to poverty and/or age.

Later ESA funding initiatives included a focus on post-pandemic monitoring and recovery; for example:

• ‘Space Based Services-Applications Addressing COVID-19 Outbreak’ (May) focused on alleviating negative impacts in healthcare and education caused by

COVID-19 and improving preparedness for future outbreaks.

• ‘Path to post-COVID Recovery’ (July) offered support and funding to assess the technical feasibility and economic viability of sustainable services that could contribute to post-COVID recovery in nine different sectors including transport, energy, tourism and security.