On Tuesday, December 19th, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Hellenic Space Center (HSC) and the Spanish Space Agency (Agencia Espacial Española – AEE), with the purpose of setting a framework for cooperation between the two countries in the space sector, with an emphasis on satellite remote sensing and satellite telecommunication technologies.
The online signing ceremony was attended by the President of the HSC, Prof. Ioannis Daglis, the CEO Dr. Nick Sergis, the scientific personnel of the HSC, the director of the Spanish Space Agency, Dr. Miguel Belló Mora, along with its chief of staff, Mr. Ana Marin, and AEE officials.
The two presidents addressed brief greetings. Mr. Daglis stated that the signing of the MoU comes as the culmination of an essential and multi-level contact between the two Space Agencies and emphasized that Greece and Spain, as Mediterranean countries, have common needs that they aim to address using satellite technologies and that their cooperation is crucial for maximizing satellite capabilities, especially in the field of Earth Observation.
Mr. Belló Mora emphasized the satisfaction of the Spanish side for the creation of a targeted cooperation framework with Greece, and pointed out that the timing is ideal, since, in addition to common needs, Spain, in cooperation with Portugal, dynamically enters the satellite remote sensing sector, with the implementation of the Atlantic Constellation program, which foresees the operation of a cluster of Earth observation satellites, with the ability to systematically cover the Mediterranean coasts.
The ceremony ended with the hope that soon there will be an opportunity for a live meeting between the administrations and the scientific personnel of the two Space Agencies.