The Latvian Space Office is an entity in charge of a coordinated space policy development, administration of Latvia’s associate membership in the European Space Agency and provision of support to the Latvian space industry and academia.
It welcomes requests for information and support available to the national space sector stakeholders as well as queries on international cooperation with the Latvian space industry, academia and policy makers.
The representatives of the Latvian Space Office:
Kaspars Karolis – national space policy and European Space Agency. Kaspars.Karolis@izm.gov.lv
Angelina Bekasova – space economy, EU Space Programme and science communication. Angelina.Bekasova@em.gov.lv
Davids Stebelis – space industry relations and support. Davids.Stebelis@msc-space.eu
Pauls Irbins – outreach, education and governmental relations. Pauls.Irbins@latvija.space
Andrejs Berdņikovs – downstream and deep tech business support. Andrejs.Berdnikovs@liaa.gov.lv
Kaspars Karolis is Space Policy Senior Expert at the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Latvia and Head of the Latvian delegation to the European Space Agency.
He is the Latvian representative to the European Space Agency in:
Kaspars Karolis is the right contact person for information regarding Latvia's participation in the European Space Agency, the national space policy of Latvia and the history of its development and international cooperation projects.
Angelina Bekasova is Space and Innovation Policy Senior Expert at the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia and Director for International Relations and Industry Development at the Latvian Space Industry Association.
She is the Latvian delegate to the European Space Agency and the European Union Space Programme in the following roles:
European Space Agency:
European Union Space Programme:
She is also a Copernicus Relay representative on behalf of the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia.
Angelina Bekasova will be glad to respond to queries related to the space economy of Latvia, including the space ecosystem of Latvia, business environment and national and EU support mechanisms available for entities in Latvia. Additionally, she welcomes cooperation in outreach activities and international relations.
Davids Stebelis is the founder of the Management Service Company (MSC) that specialises in innovation management and support. MSC implements the ESA service contract aimed to provide expertise and support to the Latvian space industry through the provision of information on ESA support opportunities available to Latvian entities, consulting on procurement processes and bidding to ESA programmes and fostering collaboration both within Latvia and internationally between Latvia and the other ESA Member States.
He is a member of the ESA Technology Harmonisation Advisory Group.
Davids Stebelis can be approached with requests for information on ESA opportunities and assistance in participation in ESA procurement programmes.
Pauls Irbins is the President of the Latvian Space Industry Association.
He is dedicated to developing the re-emerging space sector of Latvia and approaches this mission holistically: he assists the government of the Republic of Latvia in space policy making and implementation, cultivates kids’ and their parents’ curiosity and excitement for STEM, consults businesses on innovation, strategy and process optimisation and has lead the creation of the Space Education Centre in Latvia – an ambitious project implemented in cooperation with Andøya Space (Norway) that is destined to boost fascination for space in Latvia and beyond.
Pauls Irbins was among those who set the Latvian space sector in motion more than a decade ago and is now a space activist and promoter of the knowledge economy in Latvia. In 2021, he was an ESA astronaut candidate.
Andrejs Berdņikovs is the Head of the Technology Business Centre of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia.
He is Latvia’s delegate to the Industrial Policy Committee of the European Space Agency.
Andrejs is engaged in strengthening cooperation between entrepreneurs and researchers, especially in the fields of ICTs, engineering systems, microelectronics, BioTech, and SpaceTech. He has extensive experience in technology scouting and technology management, as well as in assessing innovative products, accumulated while working in international and Latvia’s innovation support programs.
His interests lie in biotechnology and ICTs convergence issues, sustainable and responsible innovation, and commercialisation of DeepTech.
