STATE SPACE AGENCY OF UKRAINE

Their core work

The State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) is Ukraine's government authority for national space policy, overseeing the country's space program including satellite development, launch infrastructure, and Earth observation. In the H2020 context, SSAU functioned as Ukraine's National Contact Point (NCP) for the Space pillar, meaning their practical role was institutional: organizing information days, helping Ukrainian researchers and companies identify relevant EU funding calls, and facilitating partner searches between Ukrainian and European space sector actors. They bring government-level authority and official national representation rather than hands-on research capacity. Ukraine has a deep space industry heritage—home to Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and Yuzhmasch launch vehicle production—and SSAU serves as the institutional bridge connecting that national ecosystem to European programs.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 engagement (2015-2016), SSAU participated in a project specifically about spreading EGNSS-based innovation in Ukraine — a technology promotion role with no recorded activity keywords, suggesting a relatively passive participant position. By 2019-2021, their activity profile sharpened into a well-defined NCP function: awareness raising, information provision, partner search support, and information days — the standard toolkit of an NCP operator. The shift is from technology adopter to institutional service provider within the European space research support infrastructure.

SSAU is consolidating into the role of Ukraine's official gateway to European space research — less a direct project participant, more an institutional broker that enables Ukrainian organizations to enter EU consortia.

How they like to work

SSAU has never led an H2020 project, always joining as a participant — consistent with their mandate as a public authority rather than a research executor. Despite only two projects, they accumulated 31 unique partners across 24 countries, which signals participation in large, geographically spread consortia where their value is national representation and reach, not technical output. Partners would find them useful for legitimizing Ukraine's involvement in a consortium and accessing Ukrainian space industry contacts, but should not expect SSAU itself to deliver research results.

31 unique partners across 24 countries from just 2 projects points to involvement in large pan-European consortia spanning EU member states and associated countries. The breadth reflects SSAU's position in intergovernmental space cooperation networks rather than a curated set of recurring research partners.

What sets them apart

As Ukraine's sole national space authority, SSAU is the only organization that can officially represent Ukraine's space program in EU consortia — no private or academic body can substitute for that mandate. For project teams needing Ukrainian involvement to satisfy geographic coverage or partnership requirements in space calls, SSAU is the direct institutional entry point. Beyond that formal role, SSAU's network connects into Ukraine's substantial space industrial base (satellite manufacturing, launch vehicles, remote sensing), which is a meaningful asset for consortia pursuing dual-use or Earth observation applications.

Highlights from their portfolio

• UKRAINE
  Largest budget of the two projects (EUR 56,963) and SSAU's first H2020 engagement, focused on replicating EGNSS-based innovation across Ukraine — a concrete technology-uptake mission rather than a coordination exercise.
• COSMOS2020plus
  Positions SSAU within the pan-European NCP network for Space, confirming their institutional role as Ukraine's official interface to Horizon 2020 space funding and demonstrating sustained participation in EU research support infrastructure.