The research project which saw a space balloon successfully being launched from Bighi all the way up to the stratosphere carrying cameras and other technological tools with the aim of recording new data about our country is proof of what a healthy collaboration between the Government of Malta and the University of Malta can achieve.

It is also proof that the space sector presents research and commercial opportunities which we before have not explored.  Careers can be created in this sector and we are fully committed to deliver, in the coming months, a national strategy to guide the country forward in this exciting sector.

The recent research project, called STRATOS-1, came about a few weeks after the launch of another local space-related project – MALETH.  I take pride in the fact that the newly-created Ministry for Research and Innovation is proving itself to be a reliable partner to researchers to make things happen.

It is no coincidence that those space-related projects arrived to fruition upon the creation of the new Research and Innovation Ministry and not before.  And yet we want to achieve more – with regards to research in general but also specifically with regards to space.

Other countries have long been participating in space-related projects, including fellow small nation states like Luxembourg.  If we had to focus on Luxembourg for a second, you would be surprised to know that this country has its own Space Agency (https://space-agency.public.lu/en/agency.html) and last December the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg published two new laws enhancing Luxembourg’s legal framework for space activities authorisation and supervision.  “The legislation responds to a growth and diversification of activities carried out by space players, especially from private industry,” the Space Agency of Luxebourg said.

Things which happen in space, as the Luxembourg experience show, have a direct effect on us on the ground.  For instance, an innovative artificial intelligence model, called “Worldfloods”, can relay flood information from space to disaster response teams below. 

Satellites, such as those launched by the company Kleos Space, deliver commercial and independent data to government agencies, the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) community and organisations interested in locating threats, assets or those in need of search and rescue.   Kleos Space has been working closely with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the past years.

All this strengthens our resolve to keep moving forward and invest in more human capital in the space sector while introducing further opportunities for industrial and educational institutions to participate in.  Malta will stop being a mere spectator in this field.

But back to STRATOS-1, the space balloon which was let off into the skies to capture never-seen-before aerial and space photos of the islands that will enable scientists to carry out studies of the Mediterranean stratosphere.

The balloon soared 37km above Malta, collecting information about the atmospheric conditions, the depth of the seas and the health of its vegetation to provide one of the island’s first hyperspectral images — an exact map of the area. 

I for one was surprised that the stratosphere is “only” thirty-seven kilometers away and can be reached with a balloon in more or less the same amount of time it takes you to go from Bighi to Kercem. 

The launch from Esplora at Villa Bighi followed the signing of a three-year collaboration between our Ministry and the University of Malta, through its Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy (ISSA), to make space more accessible.

This project, apart from pushing forward awareness of the potential of the space sector, is also aimed at engaging the young generation and raising their interest in STEM subjects and space research, in particular.

We will also sponsor a PhD, which will look into the information gathered from this launch and produce the first scientifically important data from the stratosphere. 

The operation, coordinated by the Space advisory committee, has required the expertise of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Armed Forces of Malta, which have joined the Ministry and ISSA’s team to coordinate the rescue of the camera and its photos.

The camera has been equipped with a GPS device, provided by Medcomms Ltd, which works in areas where there is no mobile phone coverage to relay the real-time position of the spacecraft as it descends.

ISSA founder Prof. Kristian Zarb Adami was right in saying that this project also inspires young children - especially girls - to embark on a career in sciences while evoking their curiosity about our celestial wonders.

I have a lot of respect for ISSA, which has been active in the field of space research for almost a decade and continues to work tirelessly to inspire the younger and older generations alike to look toward the heavens.

Of course, on the way we will meet critics, doubters and doomsters who will try to downplay our efforts and paint our efforts as absolutely useless.

We are fully aware that this sector is so extraneous in the minds of the Maltese and Gozitans that it will take an effort to make them realise that we too can take a proportionately modest part, from the research and commercial point of view, in the European space sector.

There is absolutely no reason why we should shy away this interesting field.