On 29 and 30 June 2023, Latvia will host a working visit from the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), Rodrigo da Costa. The aim of his visit is to raise awareness among the Latvian scientists and business community of the opportunities provided by the use of space data for the benefit of development on the Earth – in business, for economic growth and promoting effectiveness in a number of sectors.
The Executive Director of ESPA will get acquainted with Latvian space technology demonstrations, which will take place during the World Congress of Latvian Scientists at the National Library of Latvia. To discuss the ways towards future cooperation, the EUSPA Executive Director will meet with the President of the Latvian Space Industry Association, Pauls Irbins.
To further explore the technological achievements and opportunities of the Latvian industries, Rodrigo da Costa will also meet with members of the Latvian Federation of Security and Defence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as visiting the LMT mobile telecommunications operator, where he will get to know about a newly established initiative, MetaCity Riga.
During his visit, the Executive Director of EUSPA intends to meet with the President of Latvia Egils Levits, the Deputy Speakers of the Saeima, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica and Jānis Grasbergs, the Minister of Education, Anda Čakša, as well as the Deputy Chairperson of Riga City Council, Linda Ozola.
The EU Agency of the Space Programme is based in Prague and it works to ensure public interests in relation to the European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) programmes EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) and Galileo, the European Earth Observation Programme Copernicus, and the European Union Governmental Satellite Communications Programme (GOVSATCOM).
EUSPA’s mission is to achieve the highest return on European Space Programme investment in terms of security, benefits to users and EU economic growth and competitiveness.
The visit is organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Latvia in the Czech Republic in association with the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Riga City Council.