GEXTRECS featured on a conference for Polish governmental users

The conference organised by the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) in Gdańsk on 27-28 May attracted almost 250 participants to the European Solidarity Centre and almost 700 viewers on-line. The event proved that public administration and services are increasingly aware of the benefits of using satellite technologies for their various missions and operations, including crisis management, and that the market can provide an interesting offer that meets many of their needs.

The importance of investment in orbital and ground infrastructure, expanding functionalities and developing competences at the European level was conveyed presentations of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme EUSPA (with Director General Rodrigo da Costa at the forefront of the delegation), the European Commission (more specifically the Directorate-General for Defence and Space DG DEFIS) and the European Space Agency ESA. Examples of this include the EU programs COPERNICUS, Galileo, GOVSATCOM or instruments for incubating innovative ventures at the start-up stage, such as the CASSINI initiative.

While advocating the usefulness of satellite technologies in managing crises caused by human factors, participants discussed, often using specific examples, how effective these technologies and applications can be in preventing and responding to natural disasters: fires, floods, or other extreme weather events.

Colonel Rafał Borek, director of the Department of Satellite Communications and Navigation at POLSA, informed the audience about activities implemented by the Agency, aimed at fostering the uptake up of secure SATCOM services by Polish governmental users. One of the European research initiatives, in which POLSA is directly involved, is a Horizon Europe project GEXTRECS. Participants of the conference learnt about GEXTRECS research objectives, technological innovations advanced, consortium members and its timeline. The presentation can be watched in English here (starts at 7:14:10).

Based on planned demonstrations, GEXTRECS gives a promise of practical exploration of capabilities, performance and the added value of GOVSATCOM services in emergency response by the end of next year.