Space is becoming
increasingly important for our daily life on earth. We navigate to our
destination guided by satellites, we monitor the health of our planet
from space, we obtain news from the other side of the world via
satellites, and space telescopes peer into the
outskirts of the universe to
unravel the secrets of stars and planets.
Since man’s first
missions into space back in the 1950s,
the
Netherlands has
played a leading role in several space
activities. The
Netherlands has a proud tradition in
space
research, and our space
technology has often formed an
essential contribution
to international space missions.
Nowadays, a growing
number of innovative companies
are discovering the
wealth of possibilities that space
offers for applications
in daily life.
Looking ahead, the next
few decades promise to be even more exciting for the
international space scene than the last few, and the Dutch
government views the Dutch space sector as a
catalyst for our innovative economy. Against this background
our government decided in 2008 to establish the
Netherlands Space Office (NSO), whose mission is to
develop and realise the Dutch space programme and to act
internationally as the Dutch space agency.
The Space Directory of
the Netherlands is an
initiative of the
Netherlands Space Office. It provides
a short overview of the Dutch space
sector and its capabilities, and refers to the more
detailed information in the
online Space Directory. With
the Space Directory we want to inform international space agencies,
the private sector, research institutes and
a broad public about Dutch activities in space. Furthermore,
it gives our international partners up-to-date
information about the
Netherlands Space Office, and Dutch
policy, capabilities and activities with respect to
space.
I hope that this Space
Directory will prove to be a useful and informative tool for you, and I look forward to
working with the many
participants in the space community in delivering our
objectives.
Dr. Ger
Nieuwpoort
Director Netherlands
Space Office
