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Spanish agency for Space affairs From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Agencia Espacial Española (AEE;[3] Spanish Space Agency) is an agency of the Spanish government responsible for the Spanish space program. The agency was officially announced on 27 May 2021[4][5] and it became operational in 20 April 2023.[6][7]
| Agencia Espacial Española | |
 | |
| Space agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 20, 2023 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Spain |
| Headquarters | CREA Building José Galán Merino Street 6, 41015 Seville, Spain[1] |
| Annual budget | €700 million[2] |
| Space agency executives |
|
| Parent department | Ministry of Science Ministry of Defence |
| Website | www |
This new agency aims to group in a single body all the space powers of the General State Administration, mainly those of the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA, created in 1942)[8] and the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI, created in 1977).
The concern of the Spanish government in relation to space issues appears in the 1940s, when the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) was created. However, this body focused its efforts on satellite and rocket programs, but has never been configured as a true space agency that would coordinate public and private efforts around a defined space program.
For this reason, in 1963 the National Space Research Commission (CONIE) was created,[9] initially attached to the Ministry of the Air and later to the Ministry of Defence.
This organization had three objectives:[9]
In 1986, the Promotion and General Coordination of Scientific and Technical Research Act dismissed the commission and it transferred its powers to two bodies: first, to the Interministerial Committee for Science and Technology (CICYT, a collective government body to coordinate this affairs) and, secondly, to the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), which acts as a space project funding agency and coordinate the European Space Agency's programs in Spain.[10]
In 2014, the Interministerial Committee for Space Industrial and Technological Policy was created to coordinate the interest of the several ministries that at that time had space responsibilities. This committee was made up of representatives from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations, the Ministry of Development, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the National Institute of Aerospace Technology, the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology and the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).[11] In 2015, the government announced the creation of the agency to unify all space research activities,[12][13] but this was not carried out.
With the arrival at the Ministry of Science of former astronaut Pedro Duque, the industry recovered the idea of creating a space agency, but the government discarded the idea again since they considered that creating more structures was not going to solve the problem and that the most logical was to continue betting on the European Space Agency (ESA).[8][14] Despite this, in 27 May 2021, the new Science Minister, Diana Morant, announced that the draft Science Act included the possibility of creating said body, and that, indeed, they would do so.[4][5] The new Science, Technology and Innovation Act was passed on 26 August 2022[15][16] and entered into force on 7 September 2022.[17]
Between 2021 and 2022 the government has been implementing measures in this regard, establishing a new National Security Strategy that considered vital to have a space agency, presenting the Science bill to Parliament and the creation in June 2022 of the Space Council, an interministerial working group in charge of drawing up the internal regulations and the initial action plan of the future Spanish Space Agency.[18] The Space Council is chaired by a Special Commissioner, a position established in 2022 to coordinate all the public and private efforts to promote the space industry. The government also announced in June 2022 that the Spanish Air Force, the Army of the Air, would be renamed as Army of the Air and Space.[19]
As initially expected, the agency became operational in 2023.[20][21] On 7 March 2023, the Council of Ministers approved the internal regulations of the Agency[22] and in 20 April 2023 the Agency's Governing Council held its constitutive session.[6][7]
The Spanish Space Agency is organized into three main bodies and several subordinated directorates:[23]
Likewise, to ensure the proper functioning of the Agency, there is a Control Commission that collects information and transmits it to the Governing Council.
Finally, there are several advisory and support bodies to assist the different departments of the Agency.
From March 2023 to December 2023, Miguel Belló Mora, the government commissioner for aerospace projects of the Ministry of Science served as acting director. After leaving both offices, the director for Security and Planning of the agency, brigadier general Juan Carlos Sánchez Delgado, assumed as acting director.[24] Finally, in May 2024 the aerospace engineer Juan Carlos Cortés Pulido, then director for Programs and Industry of the agency, was appointed as the first director.[25]
| N.º | Picture | Name | Start | End | Prime Minister | Monarch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | .svg) |
Miguel Belló Mora (1961–) |
8 March 2023 | 28 December 2023 | Pedro Sánchez.jpg) (2018-present) |
 Felipe VI .jpg) (2014-present) | |
| - | |
Brigadier general Juan Carlos Sánchez Delgado |
28 December 2023 | 15 May 2024 | |||
| 1.ª | |
Juan Carlos Cortés Pulido | 15 May 2024 | Incumbent | |||
The Spanish prime minister disclosed the newly created state agency to be headquartered outside of the capital, Madrid, pursuant to the wider administrative decentralization plan devised by the government.[26] The Government of Spain however announced that it would positively assess places located less than an hour away from an international airport, with connections to Brussels and Paris, and preferably to Amsterdam, Rome, Frankfurt, Prague, and Toulouse too, cited as the most frequent destinations for work trips among agency staff members.[27][28]
The following municipalities submitted bids to host the headquarters: Huelva, Seville, Teruel, Elche, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Cabanillas del Campo, Yebes, Puertollano, Ciudad Real, León, Palencia, Cebreros, San Javier, Tres Cantos, Robledo de Chavela, and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.[29]
On 5 December 2022, the Government of Spain, via its spokesperson Isabel Rodríguez, disclosed the city of Seville as the location for the headquarters of the agency,[1] tentatively intended to be operational in early 2023.[3]
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