Esa Space Funding Decoder

ESA Space Funding Decoder

Turn an ESA idea campaign, proposal channel, co-funded activity, or tender into an auditable opportunity brief. ESA routes can move from an open idea platform to a restricted implementation contract; preserve those stage and eligibility distinctions.

Safety and scope

• Keep unpublished technology, partner-private material, export-controlled information, tender strategy, security detail, and internal pricing out of this public repository.
• Move controlled, Defence-adjacent, clearance-dependent, or commercially sensitive work to the restricted workflow.
• Treat OSIP, esa-star Publication, esa-star Tendering, ESA Business Applications, and other ESA programmes as related but distinct routes.
• Identify whether the user is responding to an idea call, preparing an invited proposal, bidding for a contract, or seeking co-funding.

Choose the mode

1. OSIP scan: find relevant open Campaigns and Channels.
2. ESA tender scan: find relevant notices or intended invitations to tender in esa-star Publication.
3. Opportunity decoder: explain one Campaign, Channel, call, business-application route, or tender.
4. Australian participation check: determine whether an Australian entity can submit, implement, lead, subcontract, partner, or only monitor.
5. Application map: map a confirmed opportunity to the current idea, outline, full-proposal, registration, or tender requirements.

Source-first workflow

1. Read references/source-hierarchy.md.
2. Capture the exact Campaign, Channel, activity, ITT, or notice identifier and an access-dated URL.
3. Read the live opportunity page, general participation conditions, special conditions, attachments, questions/answers, and current status.
4. Identify the implementation route:
   • idea evaluation only
   • co-sponsored research
   • study or early technology development
   • programme-specific co-funded activity
   • ESA Business Applications
   • esa-star procurement/contract
5. If the route proceeds through esa-star, inspect the exact publication and tender data pack rather than relying on the earlier OSIP summary.
6. Verify entity-registration, nationality/geography, prime/subcontractor, and co-funding requirements for the exact opportunity.
7. Keep confirmed, inferred, and unknown evidence separate.

Decode the opportunity

Capture:

• exact title, identifier, ESA programme/directorate, platform, and opportunity type
• stage and status: idea, community discussion, evaluation, invited proposal, open tender, negotiation, closed, or unclear
• submission, batch, outline, pitch, full-proposal, and tender dates with timezone
• objective, scope, exclusions, evaluation criteria, deliverables, duration, and TRL
• eligible entity types and countries at both idea and implementation stages
• prime, consortium member, subcontractor, university, research institute, SME, and non-SME rules
• ESA funding ceiling/rate, applicant contribution, cash co-funding, prohibited public co-funding, and allowable-cost conditions
• geographical-return, programme-subscription, ownership/control, nationality, security, and export conditions when present
• entity code, esa-star registration, declarations, letters, proposal forms, and tender data-pack requirements
• IP, publicity, confidentiality, and contract terms relevant to the decision

Hard gates for an Australian organisation

• Do not equate broad OSIP user registration or idea submission with eligibility to implement an ESA-funded activity.
• Read the opportunity's special country list and the applicable ESA procurement/participation conditions.
• Check whether the legal entity is established in an ESA Member State, Associate Member, Cooperating State, Canada, or another specifically admitted jurisdiction.
• Confirm whether the organisation can be prime, consortium member, subcontractor, research host, or only an idea contributor.
• Identify whether an eligible European lead and an Australian subcontract or collaboration route is expressly permitted. Do not invent one.
• Check programme subscription: some calls are open only to entities from states that fund the particular optional programme.
• Check co-funding and public-funding interaction before treating a university or company contribution as feasible.
• Treat security, export, nationality, and procurement restrictions as hard gates.

Opportunity scan

1. Search OSIP Campaigns and Channels using technology, science, mission, application, and end-user synonyms.
2. Search esa-star Publication for relevant tender notices and intended invitations.
3. Search programme-specific ESA funding pages when the project is commercial, telecommunications, Earth observation, navigation, technology maturation, or research.
4. Deduplicate by exact identifier and implementation route.
5. Apply geography, prime-role, programme-subscription, co-funding, and TRL gates before ranking fit.
6. Include attractive exclusions when they clarify why an Australian-led bid is not currently feasible.

Application map

For a confirmed target:

1. List every stage from idea through contract and identify which stages are open to the organisation.
2. Confirm entity registration, entity code, esa-star access, authorised signatory, prime, and subcontractors.
3. Map evaluation criteria and data-pack requirements to the project evidence, work, schedule, team, TRL, budget, and co-funding.
4. Reconcile country, role, workshare, funding rate, public-funding sources, and IP across the submission.
5. Record special conditions and deviations from general ESA guidance.

Output

Use templates/esa-opportunity-brief.md. Lead with the feasible implementation route and the country/prime/co-funding gates. Give direct official URLs and distinguish what can be done now from what requires invitation or later tendering.

Never claim that OSIP acceptance guarantees funding, that an Australian entity can contract with ESA, or that a tender is submission-ready unless the exact live conditions and portal state support it.