A fruitful spring of the Slovak Space Office
 
SARIO's Slovak Space Office (SSO) spring activities attracted hundreds of domestic and foreign participants, and lead to concrete R&D collaborations and the involvement of new companies in the sector.
 

• The winning team of the Slovak round of the ActInSpace hackathon organized by SSO-SARIO in November advanced to the world finals held in France. Despite facing tough competition from 34 other countries, the team ranked within the top five with their innovative project Avoiding Spacecraft Collisions.
• During the first quarter of this year, regional activities experienced significant growth. The Spaceport_SK business incubator began its second batch with eight startups focused on robotics, space security, or biotechnology. 
• A highly successful cooperation event was recently held with the Luxembourg Space Agency, which saw the participation of 20 companies from the two countries' space industries.
• During the first months of the year, the support activities for Slovak companies and research institutions to participate in the first ESA call within its Associate Membership reached their peak. This led to a notable increase in the number of project submissions and international partners involved, including those from France, Portugal, and Germany.
• The appointment of SVK's director as the chairman of the newly formed European subcommittee of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) showcases the growing international involvement and visibility of the Slovak space sector.​
• Within the scope of professional and popularization events, together with the Union of Slovak Scientific and Technical Societies, the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, and ESA, SSO-SARIO co-organized ESA Day in Slovakia. The event brought exciting presentations and discussions by entrepreneurs, ESA representatives, researchers, and astronauts.
• In the first quarter, several popularization events were organized and co-organized. For instance, two talks were held at the COSMOS DISCOVERY exhibition for a broader public audience and an event to introduce the Space Generation Advisory Council took place at the Slovak Technical University. 

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SSO-SARIO is currently preparing the fourth edition of the event Emerging Space, which will be held from the 30th of May until the 1st of June 2023.

      
The event is focused on promoting current trends in the space sector, emphasizing new space ecosystems, sector players, and technological areas. It will be attended by leading representatives of the European and world space sector, including leading representatives of ESA, EUSPA, the International Astronautical Federation, or key industrial actors such as Thales Alenia Space, Airbus, Ariane Group, or GMV. Registration is now open.