Greece needs to strengthen the competitive advantage it has begun to “build” in the field of optical satellite communications, taking action not only in terms of university research, but also in the creation of a business ecosystem, Polyzois Kokkonis, Future Programs Officer at the European Space Agency (ESA), said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA).

“Optical satellite communications will develop strongly in the future. They will become more important, because they offer very good possibilities for communication in Space,” Kokkonis said and reminded that Greece, in collaboration with the ESA, was one of the first countries, which, through the ground station of the “ScyLight” programme at the Observatory of Helmos, established an optical communications link with a satellite.

According to Kokkonis, who clarified that he expresses his personal position and not the official position of ESA, an ecosystem needs to be created in Greece, which will focus on this area.

“We cannot support a sector with startups alone. We must also be interested in larger companies, perhaps even foreign firms that would like to set up a department in Greece. To do so, they need a ready-made ecosystem: to be able to find the right human talent, to find other companies active in the field of Space and a good level of studies in universities. Also, in addition to government research funding, there needs to be commercial funding as well. Greece has come to the forefront, but when we talk about technologies with so much potential for the future, we are talking about a highly competitive field. There are several countries that are interested in positioning themselves in the field of optical communications and that is where I think Greece needs to stimulate its ecosystem”, he underlined, on the occasion of the 6th international forum entitled “5G Techritory”, held in Riga, Latvia.