The European Space Agency (ESA) uses four main criteria to assess whether an enterprise qualifies as a “State” entity, as outlined in Article II.3 of Annex V to the ESA Convention:
- Location of the Registered Office: The primary address where the enterprise is legally registered.
- Location of Decision-Making Centres: The sites where significant managerial and strategic decisions are made.
- Location of Research Centres: The places where the enterprise conducts its research and development activities.
- Territory on Which the Work is Carried Out: The geographical location where the actual work of the enterprise is executed.
These criteria ensure that the enterprise aligns with the objectives and regulatory requirements of ESA.
Case 1: Employees of a Company Recognized as a “State” Entity by ESA
If a company is recognized as a “State” Entity by the European Space Agency (ESA), employees who are directly paid by this company can charge hours for their work.
Case 2: Employees Paid by a Foreign Subsidiary
If the employees are paid by a subsidiary of the company located in another country, they cannot charge hours directly. In this situation, their work can only be considered as an external service and is permissible only if it does not involve key activities or key personnel.
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.service.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. Email and phone communications shall be avoided.
It is the responsibility of the Bidder to contact the National Delegate(s) (with few exception, according to National Delegations requirements) after the approval of Proposal Part 1 to obtain the Authorization of ESA funding 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
- The text shall be filled in the webform together with images (the OSIP platform does not support tables)
- *.zip for the financial workbook (provide a zipped *.xlsx). *.7z is NOT acceptable
- Files of any type that you judge relevant as an annex.
On esa-star, for Proposal Part 2
- *.pdf for your Proposal Part 2
- *.pdf for Digitally signed / scanned signed Cover letter, PSS, SME self assessment
- *.xslm for the Smart Cooperative Agreement Input Tool
- Files of any type for annexes.
Please refer to the application process (https://incubed.esa.int/how-to-apply/) to understand the typical time frame including mandatory application deadlines and ESA response times.
No. Your customers can be anywhere in the world. The only limitation is when your customer is a part of your consortium: in this case they have to be based in an ESA member state.
ESA follows the European Commission’s definition of an SME. Please refer to the definition in the recommendation 2003/361/EC of the European Commission (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32003H0361&from=EN) and the EC summary page (https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en).
Please note that some conditions apply for holdings.