Space Exchange Switzerland

In January 2021, the Swiss Space Office (SSO) of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) announced a selection procedure for a new national platform for the promotion of space in Switzerland. Under the name Space Exchange Switzerland (SXS), the platform is intended to support the further development of space in Switzerland in areas which are not core tasks of SERI/SSO.

Following the successful selection procedure, SXS is now operational and is implemented on a national scale by a consortium of 5 project partners, namely EPFL, as leading house, ETH Zurich, University of Zurich, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, and Università della Svizzera italiana. 

 The initial mandate for SXS runs from 2021 to end 2024. SXS is mandated by SERI/SSO to be a neutral platform, with the following portfolio of tasks and functions:  

  • Facilitate, in cooperation with professional associations and educational institutions, the organization of professional training (especially courses for specialists) in the field of space; 
  • Organize space related outreach activities and support selected outreach events of the European Space Agency ESA in Switzerland; 
  • Encourage exchange and mobility of students and young professionals to ESA;
  • Organization of events in the space sector for professionals (supporting SERI/SSO);
  • Support to SERI/SSO for stakeholder consultations in the space sector;
  • Support to SERI/SSO for technology harmonization (advisor role in the Technology Harmonization Advisory Group THAG of ESA);  and
  • Scientific NPOC (National Point of Contact) for satellite images, including professional and technical support for Earth observation programmes.

The implementation of this mandate assists the SERI/SSO to further

  • amplify the voices of the Swiss space community nationally and internationally;
  • improve Swiss companies’ impact in the space field – namely in relation to ESA and its technology needs; 
  • engage young talents to become the future generation of space experts; and 
  • support Swiss entities in developing their knowledge and aptitude in using Earth observation space data;
  • all while ensuring complementarity to existing initiatives.

The SXS consortium operates a website and dedicated mailing list under its responsibility. We kindly invite you to register on this mailing list via the SXS website under this link.

Contact

SERI, Nathan Roulet
T +41 58 485 08 92

https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/content/sbfi/en/home/research-and-innovation/space/informations-for-experts/sxs.html