Austria, Strong Niche Player in Europe's Space Industry

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 001527

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TSPA TSPL AU TNGD SENV
SUBJECT: Austria, Strong Niche Player in Europe's Space Industry

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Sensitive but unclassified -- protect accordingly.

REF: A) Vienna 1287 B) Vienna 1382


1. (U) SUMMARY: Austria has developed a successful niche within
Europe's space industry in the areas of earth observation and
satellite equipment since its late entry to the European Space
Agency (1987). Clusters of small earth observation firms (centered
on universities in Salzburg, Innsbruck and Graz) specialize in
analyzing copious and complex satellite data for a variety of end
uses. Another group of mid-size firms (largely in Vienna) supply
satellite equipment and software -- foremost to ESA, but also to
Boeing, NASA, JAXA (Japan),CNES (France) and CNSA (China). R&D
projects, often with German partners, are supported by ESA and/or
the Austrian government. Growing success (particularly in earth
observation) brings commercial opportunities but may eventually
raise technology control issues. END SUMMARY.

Earth Observation Sector
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2. (U) Many of Austria's boutique earth observation firms initially
developed their software modeling to address environmental and
land-use problems in that alpine country. Not surprisingly, these
firms have become particularly good at steep, high-terrain analysis
under high cloud coverage; examples include:
-- using highly accurate elevation modeling to help build an
airport;
-- glacier monitoring for water resource management; and
-- forest cover monitoring of deforestation and soil erosion, and to
identify avalanche-prone areas.
Some firms' products are being used by the World Bank and
organizations for risk/climate change studies in various regions of
the world.


3. (U) Geoville (www.geoville.com),the largest of these firms, uses
high resolution TerraSAR-X data and digital surface modeling to
analyze such issues as oil reserves (in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia).
Geoville is involved in World Bank studies and several EU projects
monitoring global environment, natural disaster, and security issues
(GMES, GEOLAND2 and GSE LAND).


4. (U) Small firms in Austria developing satellite-downstream
applications include EOX IT Services, Enveo Environmental Earth
Observation, BGIS, GRID-IT, GCS Global Communications, and
Intergraph Austria. These firms are excelling not only at
evaluating satellite data, but have also developed products that can
manage the large volume of large 3D satellite data so as to allow
users rapid and efficient access - a particularly useful tool for
natural or civil crisis management.

Satellite Suppliers
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5. (U) The leading satellite equipment supplier in Austria is Ruag
Space (www.space.at / formerly Austrian Aerospace and a subsidiary
of Sweden's Saab Space until 2008, when it became a subsidiary of
Switzerland's Ruag Holding). Its key satellite products include:
-- customized multilayer insulation;
-- onboard electronics (e.g. navigation signal generators and GPS
receivers); and
-- onboard positioning mechanisms (for pointing ion thrusters or
deploying appendages).
In 2009, Ruag Space supplied GPS receivers for the ESA's Global
Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program, and provided
equipment and insulation for ESA's Herschel/Plank and GOCE
satellites.


6. (U) Siemens Austria is also an active satellite supplier, working
primarily on the European Galileo project. It specializes in VSAT
monitoring systems, SIECAMS for monitoring of signal spectrum
transmitted via satellite, and ground system/mission control
software. Both Ruag and Siemens sell most of their products to the
ESA, whereas smaller Austrian satellite suppliers -- including Magna
Steyr Space Technology (cryogenic feed lines) and start-up Orbspace
(vehicle system design and rocket propulsion) -- sell to largely
non-ESA customers.

Modest, but Well Targeted Government Support
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7. (U) The GoA supports space R&D through its modest contribution to
EU programs: in 2009 it gave EUR 15.6 million to ESA directly,
spending another EUR 18.4 million to participate in ESA research
programs and EUR 4.1 million to participate in EUMETSAT. At the
national level, the GoA has funded space research through the
Austrian Space Applications Program (ASAP) since 2002; in 2009, ASAP
had a budget of EUR 11.9 million, of which 2.6 million is set aside
for GMES projects. ASAP focuses on space applications including
navigation, telecommunication, and earth observation. The largest

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element of ASAP is the ARTIST project ("Austrian Radionavigation
Technology and Integrated Satnav Services and Product Testbed")
which funds "intelligent transport" and has been used to test
Galileo applications and services. According to Space Agency head
Harald Posch, the government is now underwriting loans to small
firms with riskier projects, who cannot find private credit due to
the worldwide banking crisis.

COMMENT
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8. (SBU) Austria's active earth observation sector is an outgrowth
of heavy government spending on the environment and high-tech R&D.
The sector should benefit significantly from a Copenhagen-process
agreement on climate change that will no doubt entail expanded
land-use monitoring. There are also growing synergies with
Austria's light aircraft and unmanned aircraft sector which already
offer remote sensing capabilities(which Post will describe Septel).
However, these new commercial opportunities are likely to bring
technology control concerns (Ref B). END COMMENT.

EACHO