ESA offers satellite navigation prize

PARIS, June 3 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency is awarding a prize of $44,200 as part of the sixth European Satellite Navigation Competition.

The space agency said the competition, now in its sixth year, is designed to find the best quick-to-market innovative idea for the use of satellite navigation in a non-space sector.

"Satellite navigation is a good example of how Europe's space research can be used for commercial purposes, from more traditional applications in the automotive industry, to uses in the computer games market," the ESA said in a statement. "With its innovation prize (10,000 euros), ESA's Technology Transfer Program is seeking to encourage companies to realize the transfer potential of this technology, and promote business concepts based on knowledge transfer and innovative technological combinations."

The winner will receive direct support at one of ESA's three Business Incubation Centers located in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. People from around the world can enter the competition, officials said, by presenting their innovative idea in the form of a coherent business plan at www.galileo-masters.eu by July 31.