Belgian state-industry-university cooperation in the field of Earth stations

1966 was the start in Belgium of a long cooperation between the state, industry, and universities, on the occasion of the specific programs of ESRO and its successor, the European Space Agency. Simultaneously, this cooperation was stimulated by the COST programs of the European Community. More specifically, over a period of about 30 years, it involved the Fonds des Protypes, the Services du Premier Ministre pour la Programmation de la Politique Scientifique (SPPS), later SSTC, and the RTT, later Belgacom, on the state side; the Groupe de Technologie de la Technologie Spatiale GETS Bruxelles, ETCA Charleroi, and Newtec Antwerpen on the industry side; and the Laboratoire d'Hyperfrequences UCL on the university side. Over the same period Belgian industry, north, center, and south altogether, has benefited from public funds of about 100 million BEF, not counting indexation, for acquiring expertise in designing and realizing Earth stations by making available, as a scientific tool for the university, three stations in 1978 and two stations in 1989.