It is reasonable to expect that, when we articulate the concept of ‘Space’, the layman would immediately associate this term with the cutting-edge space exploration missions to the moon and other planets, orbital satellites and the relative exciting imagery of rocket launches delivering the satellite payloads in outer space.
Indeed, this is part and parcel of the Space domain, however, Space is not only about the grandiose projects being undertaken by the likes of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who are even venturing and testing the commercial viability of space tourism.
By ‘Space’, we mean so much more than that. Space-related technologies have nowadays permeated into our everyday lives with a myriad of applications in various thematic areas. Navigation on land, sea and air, communication, surveillance, border control and security, agriculture, meteorological observation, monitoring of natural disasters and early warning systems all rely on space infrastructures.
Space is no longer a luxury, afforded only by the well-established space-faring nations, that engaged in a literal race to the moon during the height of the Cold War. Space-based applications, running on the timely provision of satellite-generated data is today present at the core of so many essential commodities of our modern world.
It is with this logic that we are endeavouring with the launch of a national Space Strategy to better structure and weave together our pockets of excellence in the area of Space research and innovation, with a view to position our country as a player in fostering local start-ups as well as attracting FDI in this exciting sector.
Our country has invested in the recent past years, through an initial Space Policy, adopted by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) in 2017, in a first-of-its-kind Space Research Fund, which runs annual calls for project proposals.
The fund has attracted considerable interest from stakeholders, notably researchers, and is an outstanding success, oversubscribed with project applications at each issue of the calls for proposals.
Space is no longer a luxury afforded only by the well-established space-faring nations- Owen Bonnici
In our vision, as laid out in the strategy that we have just launched for consultation, the intention is now to consolidate the foundations of space research endeavours, to capitalise on the myriad economic opportunities stemming from the widest possible understanding of space-related activities.
For this purpose, the strategy envisages the establishment of a legal framework for the attraction of FDI in the sector, for which, in turn, there is the need to ensure the necessary and continuous development of human capital. Also, this has to be done, of course, in full compliance with the applicable international regulatory conventions and complemented by targeted investment schemes.
The vision can be seen as an ambitious yet realistic one, inspired by the need to ensure that Malta can exploit, like other comparably sized countries, the economic spill-over opportunities of space.
The Luxembourgish trailblazing endeavour on space resource mining is most probably the best example of what a small jurisdiction capable of carving out a unique niche within space can achieve, with the appropriate level of sustained public and private investments, framed by a robust regulatory framework.
Luxembourg has managed to nurture a sustainable space eco-system focused mainly on the space services segment, such as satellite-based ICT services and business incubation services for space start-up across a wide variety of specialised fields of space-based applications.
The Luxembourgish success story should serve as inspiration for us and a fully tested example of how a respectable space eco-system can be nourished and developed over the medium to long-term.
For Malta, the experience gained to date with the development of successful maritime and aviation hubs, including ancillary services, should serve as a good testbed for replicating similar and complementary efforts in the space domain.
This is both the spirit and essence of the Malta Space Strategy. I invite interested parties to come forward and participate in the public consultation exercise, which is open for a six week period, during which we are also open to receive further ideas to continue improving our portfolio of ideas for the future of our own thriving space business, research and education eco-system.