Do I need Full registration just to submit a proposal?

No. Light registration already grants access to all esa-star services up to and including proposal submission, so it is enough to bid on an ESA Invitation To Tender. Full registration only becomes mandatory when ESA is ready to award the contract — start it as soon as your bid looks like it has a real chance.

Is ESA-STAR the same thing as EMITS?

No — EMITS (Electronic Mail Invitation to Tender System) was ESA's earlier procurement system. esa-star's registration module replaced EMITS's 'Industry Outlook' part in March 2016, and esa-star took over the rest of EMITS — tender publication and bidding — in March 2021. Any manual or guide still mentioning EMITS is describing the predecessor to today's esa-star.

What is ESA-STAR Registration?

ESA-STAR (ESA's System for Tendering And Registration) is the mandatory sign-up process for any organisation that wants to do business with ESA. It has two levels — Light and Full — and you need at least the Light one validated before you can submit a proposal to any ESA Invitation To Tender.

Light vs Full

esa-star registration comes in two levels, designed so new entities can complete the process in stages. A Light registration — a shorter version of the questionnaire — grants access to all esa-star services up to and including proposal submission: enough to browse tender opportunities in esa-star Publication, open a Bidder Restricted Area in esa-star Tendering, and submit an offer. A Full registration — every section of the questionnaire completed — is what ESA requires before it can actually award a contract. Either level, once ESA validates it, comes with a unique Entity code that identifies your organisation across all future esa-star activity.

For a founder, the practical split is simple: Light is the gate before you can bid, Full is the gate before you get paid. Validation is not instant, so starting Light registration as soon as a relevant tender appears — rather than days before the submission deadline — is what actually keeps a bid alive.

How to register

Before creating a new entry, check the ESA Entities Directory to confirm your organisation is not already registered as an Entity or Business Unit — a duplicate just creates confusion later. If it is not, complete the online questionnaire on the esa-star Registration portal and submit it for ESA validation. Once validated, roles get assigned to the people who will use the account day to day: a Bid Manager (opens the Bidder Restricted Area for a specific tender and submits the offer), a Contract Manager, an Entity Information Administrator, among others.

Programmes such as GSTP and ARTES publish their calls as Invitations To Tender through esa-star — VIRA tracks the same calls without requiring an esa-star login first: see live tenders. The moment you actually want to bid, though, esa-star registration is the first gate.

EMITS: what came before

esa-star replaced ESA's older procurement system, EMITS (Electronic Mail Invitation to Tender System), the platform previously used to publish ITTs and run the tendering process. The switch happened in two stages: esa-star's registration module went live on 15 March 2016, replacing the "Industry Outlook" part that used to sit inside EMITS, with existing user data carried over automatically; the rest of EMITS — publication and bidding — was fully replaced by esa-star in March 2021, making it the single electronic tendering interface for ESA and its external partners. Any manual, forum thread or old consultancy guide that still mentions EMITS is describing that predecessor, not the platform you will register on today.

Official source: ESA — esa-star registration process; ESA — esa-star: open for business; ESA — EMITS is replaced by esa-star.

Written by Tymofiy Badikov, founder of VIRA.space (Virtual Innovation Research Assistant) — operated by Space Tech Gateway Sp. z o.o., Kraków Technology Park. VIRA tracks live European space funding calls and checks your eligibility free: see live tenders.