Lithuania is ready to strengthen its role in the space technology revolution
Helping at least 25 space start-ups to establish themselves by 2027, setting up a European Space Agency business incubation centre this autumn and mobilising the space community are just some of the facilities aimed at boosting Lithuania's space sector to 1% of GDP within the timeframe set. These objectives are set out in the Lithuanian Space Sector Development Concept, prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation.
The Lithuanian Space Sector Development Concept presented today underlines that the space sector is one of the fastest growing sectors worldwide. With a value of more than €300 billion and a strong annual growth rate of almost 7%, Lithuania aims to make better use of its potential to gain a foothold in the space sector, with particular steps to do so.
"Space is becoming one of the priority areas in Europe and this is well illustrated by the European Space Programme, which foresees huge investments in the sector. It is important for Lithuania not to be a passive observer of this transformation, and we have therefore developed a concept that will help Lithuania become a supplier and user of space services, products and technologies developed through international research and advanced technologies. This will enable us to provide the technologies, products and services needed by society, business and the public sector, and to create significant added value," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, the Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
According to her, the applicability of space technologies is specific to sectors such as environmental management, transport and urban planning, climate monitoring and meteorology, telecommunications, defence and security, energy, agriculture and others. This brings added value to the economy and society.
According to the Minister, Lithuanian science and business have the potential to develop the space sector by developing consumer applications for the use of Earth observation data, software for space systems, solutions for autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and robotics for space activities, optics and optoelectronic devices, small and nano satellites and electromechanical components.
LT SpaceHub was established together with the recently launched Innovation Agency, which will significantly expand the activities of the Space Office previously located at the Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA), and will mobilise the space community, engage in pre-incubation and acceleration activities, raise the profile of Lithuania's space industry, and promote the participation of Lithuanian businesses in the European Space Agency (ESA) and other international programmes.
A.Armonaitė stresses the importance of Lithuania becoming an associate member of ESA: "This creates an opportunity for us to increase the country's competitiveness, to promote innovation, advanced technologies, innovative industries and to integrate Lithuanian business and science in space into international value chains, and at the same time obliges us to continue to grow in this field."