FAQ

Any user can apply for ESA’s NoR sponsoring for cloud resources aimed at Research, Pre-commercial, Development and demonstration projects exploiting satellite-based EO data, as long as they do not create revenue.
We advise you to check the sponsorship guidelines at https://eo4society.esa.int/network-of-resources/nor-sponsorship/ to know more about your possibility of being sponsored by the NoR initiative.

- Start by choosing the project type, if the request is related to an ESA project (or not), and if the intention is to co-fund the cost.
- You will be redirected to a second page where you have to write your name and data.
- Write your final goal in the project objectives section and the methodology you will use to reach it in the corresponding section. Do not forget to state if you need commercial data to achieve your objectives.
- Then, specify who will be the beneficiaries of your project and justify why you need the selected services and provider for it.
- An important section is the description of work within the cloud environment; you must indicate what kind of work you plan to do in the cloud.
- Specify the geographical area of interest of the project, if the project is the continuation of a previous project (if that is the case, it is required to report the previous project ID) and, only for ESA projects, all the information related to the ESA contract and Technical Officer.
- Finally, state the expected submission date of the set of slides (talking about why the use of Cloud services requested via the NoR has been helpful for your project), download the compiled form, sign it, and email the signed form to NoR-Sponsorship-Requests@esa.int. If the project is an ESA project, it must also be signed by the ESA TO before sending it to the NoR sponsorship email address.

For each sponsored project, NoR requires submitting a set of slides. They can be made in PowerPoint or any other PowerPoint-like tool and should have roughly five pages. The content should cover the reasons why the services requested via the NoR were helpful for your project. We do not need the scientific results of the project. For us, it is enough to know how you used the resources we granted you.
Moreover, do not forget to state the ID of the sponsored project inside the set of slides.

When you send your request to the official NoR email address for sponsor requests, which is NoR-Sponsorship-Requests@esa.int, you will receive an automatic reply stating that your request has been received.

It usually takes an average of 6 working days for a request to be evaluated. However, due to the variety of requests, it might take longer for specific projects to be evaluated.

If you do not find answers in the NoR portal, email nor@esa.int.

If you want to know more about a service listed in the NoR, please contact the service provider’s help desk. You can reach them by going to the helpdesk section under each provider’s name. If the provider does not respond, please highlight this to us at nor@esa.int.

The short answer is no.
The NoR initiative is focused on promoting the use of Cloud resources for the scientific aspects of educational, research and pre-commercial projects. The sponsorship request and published articles resulting from NoR sponsorship must avoid expressing any political views or conclusions. The documents should not contain any political opinion, philosophical, or religious beliefs.