According to an announcement made by the Greek government, the country will have its own Space Agency. The objective, of course, is not to start any independent…space exploration program. It will fill the gap that exists for a long time, as all countries that participate in the European space research and development programs (R&D) have relevant institutions as a kind of an interface between the countries as well as the related EU committees.

The name of the agency will probably be National Center for Space Applications (NCSA)

Greece is about to launch its third satellite, the Hellas Sat 3, later this year. The establishment of the NCSA will take place shortly after.

The main objective for the NCSA will be the development of the existing Greek industry with the participation in join ventures and relevant European programs such as transmitters for civil and military use, civil protection programs with the use of satellite observation technology etc.
When fully developed it will be a technology hub for Greek high technology companies that right now have little coordination. This will allow them to apply for European and NATO funding as well as develop national civil and military projects.

It is characteristic of the situation so far, the fact that Greece has been absent from the EU member states’ minister meetings on space policy, regardless of the fact that Greece has spent hundreds of million for the participation on European programs, i.e. Galileo, which, however, are not being used by the country due to the lack of specialized personnel that would coordinate the government work and represent the country in the relevant committees in the EU and the UN.