Archives: Faq

If you are not yet registered on esa-star, please do so asap. esa-star registration user manual can be found here : https://esastar-emr.sso.esa.int/Account/DownloadFile

Tutorial on how to open a BRA : http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2016/03/Bidder_Restricted_Area_creation_and_structure

You should create a BRA asap once you’ve been granted permission to proceed to the Proposal Part 2 stage. Make sure that you change the default name “New Proposal” to a more significant name.

For any further questions on esa-star, please contact esait.ser​vice.desk@esa.int

The preferred communication channel is directly on ideas.esa.int. Confidentiality is assured as the discussion section is accessible only to a very restricted number of ESA people, as well as the national delegations of entities involved in the consortium (except for ASI). Email and phone communications shall be avoided.

If a company in the consortium is Italian, no direct interaction with ASI is allowed. ESA is the only direct contact during the InCubed application.

For other Nationalities, the National Delegate(s) will be invited to the pitch by ESA. It is the responsibility of the bidder to contact the National Delegate(s) (see national delegation requirements here: https://incubed.esa.int/national-requirements/) after the approval of Proposal Part 1 to unlock the letter of support necessary for the submission of the Proposal Part 2. Other interactions are defined on a case by case basis.

On ideas.esa.int, for Proposal Part 1

• *.zip for the financial workbook (provide a zipped *.xlsx). *.7z is NOT acceptable
• *.docx or *.doc for your Proposal Part 1
• Files of any type that you judge relevant as an annex.

On esa-star, for Proposal Part 2

• *.xlsm for the financial workbook, the PSS tool and the smart contract tool
• *.pdf for your Proposal Part 2
• *.pdf for Digitally signed / scanned signed Cover letter, PSS, SME self assessment
• Files of any type for annexes.

The following five criteria are used by the Tender Evaluating Board:

Criterion 1: Understanding of the programme objectives:
– improvement of global competitiveness of Europe in EO commercial markets;
– substantial degree of innovation (new or improved competencies for Economic Operator(s));
– tangible results within the timespan of InCubed;
– credibility of the business opportunity in the market context including sustainability in the commercial market without further institutional support.

Criterion 2: Quality and completeness of the technical proposal:
– key requirements and proposed architectures and concepts versus activity objectives;
– quality of engineering approach and discussion of problem areas;
– evaluation of technical risks and credibility of the risk mitigation actions.

Criterion 3: Adequacy of the management approach, planning and co-funding:
– adequacy and completeness of the work package descriptions;
– meeting plan, deliverables and schedule;
– completeness of the costing, value for money, assessment of financial risk versus company resources;
– credibility of proposed co-funding scheme.

Criterion 4:  Experience, facilities and management plan:
– company/ies technical and commercial experience in all areas of the proposed activities;
– completeness of the team with respect to the value chain;
– relevant experience and caliber of the key personnel;
– adequacy of facilities;
– management plan.

Criterion 5:  Contractual aspects:
– compliance with the administrative tender conditions of the APO for Proposal Part 2;
– acceptance of the Draft Contract.

You can…

• Read the proposal template instructions carefully to provide all the information requested at once (failing to do so puts you in the risk of having to resubmit or even getting a rejection)
• Work on Proposal Part 2 at your own risk even before the go-ahead to proceed to this stage, taking into account that you may not be granted a go-ahead to proceed or that you will be asked to apply major changes to your Proposal Part 1 based on ESA feedback. (N.B. You MUST wait for the approval of Proposal Part 1 to actually submit part 2)
• Respond to all our messages in a timely manner on the platform and communicate well in advance your targeted submission dates and any potential delays
• Submit your proposals ahead of the deadline communicated to you, also paying attention to the monthly gates for the Proposal Part 2.

Please refer to the application process (https://incubed.esa.int/how-to-apply/) and the timeline tool provided to you on ideas.esa.int to understand the typical time frame including mandatory application deadlines and ESA response times. Please note that all the dates in the tool are deadlines which we expect you to respect.

You can also submit your Proposal Part 1 earlier, which will make the overall application process faster. For example, you may have four weeks to submit a Proposal Part 1 but you manage to submit in two – ESA will target to provide the feedback within one week (assuming you have communicated your submission date well in advance), speeding up this particular submission + feedback -stage from five weeks to three weeks.