Belgische jongen wint Galileo-prijsvraag (en)
On 29th June, a Belgian jury awarded the first prize in the Galileo drawing competition to eleven-year-old Thijs Paelman. One of the two operational Galileo satellites to be launched on 20th October will be named after Thijs.
Thijs Paelman, born in 2000, is the winner of the Galileo Drawing Competition in Belgium and will have one of the first two IOV satellites named after him. A jury panel made up Sabine Laruelle, Belgian Minister of SMEs, Self-employment, Agriculture and Scientific Research, Dirk Frimout, astronaut, and Christian De Bruyne, European Commission Representation in Belgium chose Thijs's entry from more than 300 submissions. The criteria used were relevance of the drawing to the given topic, originality of expression and aesthetic appeal.
At a special ceremony that took place on 29 June 2011 at Mechelen’s Technopolis, Thijs was presented with a certificate and trophy representing the satellite that will be named after him. The award ceremony was attended by the jury members and Mr Heinz Zourek, Director-General of DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission.
The Galileo Drawing Competition
The Galileo Drawing Competition is taking place in each of the 27 European Union Member States and is open to all children living in these countries who were born in 2000, 2001 or 2002. The competition first ran in Belgium and Bulgaria, 10 April - 31 May 2011. It will be open in the remaining countries between 1 September and 15 November 2011. Children are encouraged to create a piece of artwork that represents the theme ‘Space and Aeronautics’. A jury of national personalities will select each country's winner who will have one of the satellites of the Galileo Programme named after them.
The Galileo Programme
Galileo is Europe's global navigation satellite system providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. Galileo will provide three early services in 2014/2015 based on an initial constellation of 18 satellites: an initial Open Service, an initial Public Regulated Service and an initial Search-and-Rescue Service. The Galileo Programme Satellites are scheduled to be launched in phases as of 20th October 2011 and until the constellation is complete.
For further details regarding the competition please visit:
For further details regarding The Galileo Satellite Programme please visit: