On the occasion of ESPI’s 20th anniversary, we welcomed our members and advisors in Vienna for the 1st Extraordinary meetings of General Assembly and Advisory Council, the two governing bodies of ESPI, on 26 September 2023.
ESPI’s 1st Extraordinary GA meeting welcomed high-level representatives from ESPI member organisations, including heads of agencies and four new members, who joined the institute in 2023. The 20 ESPI members include European Space Agency – ESA (founder), FFG Austrian Research Promotion Agency (founder), Arianespace, Belgian Science Policy Office, Beyond Gravity, European Commission, EUMETSAT, Eutelsat, Exolaunch, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Italian Space Agency, Luxembourg Space Agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) , Norwegian Space Agency, OHB SE, Portuguese Space Agency, Romanian Space Agency, State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI / Swiss Space Office, Thales Alenia Space, and UK Space Agency
The overarching theme for both meetings was ESPI’s long-term evolution and role in the European space sector. The two bodies also addressed outcomes of ESPI’s 20th Anniversary Event organised the day before in the Austrian Parliament and the recently release ESPI2040 Policy Vision for Europe and Space. Underlining the ambitious vision embodied in ESPI2040, a wider distribution of ESPI 2040 to policy makers and wider public was encouraged.