There is an obvious synergy between our national programmes and European commission (EC) / ESA activities.
Programmes like STEREO enable the training of highly qualified researchers and the development of expertise. In return, this facilitates a high level of Belgian participation in H2020 or ESA projects.
Copernicus
Copernicus is a flagship programme of the European Union to:
- monitor the Earth, its environment and ecosystems;
- prepare for crises, security risks and natural or man-made disasters;
- contribute to the EU’s role as a global soft power.
BELSPO contact point
This ensures a full, free and open data policy. Copernicus is driven by the user requirements to promote as much as possible the user uptake.
The data are free but the development of value added services and applications and the marketing of the downstream services by private companies should make Copernicus a tool for economic development and a driver for the digital economy.
Destination Earth
Destination Earth (DestinE) is a flagship initiative of the European Commission to develop a highly accurate digital model of the Earth on a global scale. This model will monitor, simulate, and predict the interaction between natural phenomena and human activities. It will contribute to achieving the objectives of the twin transition, green and digital as part of the European Commission's Green Deal and Digital Strategy.
BELSPO Space Dept contact points
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) are the three organisations entrusted by the EU to achieve this unprecedented endeavour for climate, weather and computing sciences.
Learn more about the role of Belgium
within Destination Earth
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe is the continuation of Horizon 2020 and represents the next research and innovation (R&I) framework programme of the European Union for the period 2021-2027. The programme is composed of 3 pillars and some horizontal action lines. Pillar 2, "Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness", addresses the huge challenges the EU and the world are facing. The actions of pillar 2 are organized in different clusters. Research and innovation for space related technology and applications will be hosted in the cluster "Digital, Industry and Space".
BELSPO Space Dept contact points
The Horizon 2020 Space activities related to the flagship programmes Copernicus (Earth Observation) will be continued and complemented with activities related to the new components of the EU Space Programme.
NCP Federal BE is the service of the National Contact Points (NCPs) of the Belgian federal government; their target group consists of the federal research institution and other federal actors. The aim of this service is to inform federal actors about the latest developments in Horizon Europe, to help them find suitable project partners or join a consortium, to support them in preparing a project proposal and to provide feedback on their project proposals.
Horizon 2020
Horizon 2020 was the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation for the period 2014 to 2020.
Its goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation.
Horizon 2020 Earth observation (EO) activities accompany Copernicus, the Union's Earth observation and monitoring programme.
EO related activities are mainly hosted under the "H2020 Space" sub-programme of the "Leadership in Industrial Technologies" part of Horizon 2020.
H2020 Space is aiming at fostering the establishment of a European space industry (including SME's and start-ups) and research community which is innovative, globally competitive and ready to develop and exploit space infrastructure and space data to meet the Union's policy and societal needs.
Horizon 2020 enables the European space research and development community to develop innovative space technologies and operational concepts and to develop applications and services using space data for scientific, public, or commercial purposes.
The EO related activities in H2020 Space focus on the exploitation of Copernicus and existing European space infrastructure by promoting the development of innovative products and services based on remote sensing.