PostedMay 17, 2022, 9:24 p.m.
A competence center of the European Space Agency (ESA) will be created at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), in Villigen (AG). A cooperation agreement was signed to this effect on Tuesday
The site of the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Villigen, near Würenlingen, in Aargau, will host a Swiss and European space competence center.
20min / Taddeo Cerletti
Switzerland and the European Space Agency signed a cooperation agreement on Tuesday for the creation of a joint skills center at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen (AG).
The European Space Deep-Tech Innovation Center (ESDI) should contribute to improving the transfer of scientific results to the private sector, according to the Secretariat for Training, Research and Innovation (SERI). The center must play a coordinating role and make it possible to carry out projects bringing together partners from universities and industry established in Switzerland as well as in the Member States of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The first topics selected for the platforms concern research on materials, data management and processing, quantum technologies and sustainable space ecosystems, says SERI.
PSI facilities “unique in the world”
On Tuesday, State Secretary Martina Hirayama stressed that the support of ESA and its member states for the future center showed “how Switzerland is recognized as a reliable and competitive partner”. However, the creation of the ESDI is also a call to Switzerland to become even more involved in the space sector and to make its contribution to the challenges that Europe intends to meet, she specified.
The infrastructures and skills brought together within the ETH domain are of particular interest for ESA and the space sector, and the large facilities of the PSI, unique in the world, make the institute an ideal location for the ESDI, noted ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.
As a reminder, Switzerland is a founding member of ESA and pays an annual contribution of just over 190 million francs for the agency’s programs and activities.
(cht)