Eurisy Members’ Corner: Focus on the European Space Agency
Supporting technical and business innovation through space assets, 14 April 2022
People, Planet, Profit: this is the formula behind the approach of the Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme of the European Space Agency.
During the first webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner series, Davide Coppola, Business Developer and Project Manager at ESA, provided insights into the support and funding opportunities made available by ESA to private companies of all sizes to integrate space technologies and bring their products to the market.
The “3P approach” aims at putting space capabilities to good use to favour the transition into a sustainable, green, and digital Europe.
By providing technical and business support, zero equity funding and access to its partners’ network, the BASS programme supports EU start-ups, SMEs, as well as mid-caps and corporates to define, develop, verify and validate innovative and sustainable applications/services utilising space assets and fulfilling customers and end-users’ needs.
Between 2016 and 2021, the European Space Agency has been supporting more than 600 activities aimed at transferring space technologies to a number of civilian sectors, the most prominent being: Transport and Logistics, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, and Health and Social Care. Most of such activities have been implemented in cooperation with SMEs, while 33% of the private companies involved were “newcomers” in the ESA ecosystem.
Indeed, ESA has simplified the procedure for companies to obtain support to develop their business ideas, with the aim of attracting more and more organisations working on pressing issues such as circular economy, sustainable digital economy, renewable energy, and humanitarian assistance.
A number of funding opportunities are currently open to private companies wishing to embark in the space venture. Some are kick-starter opportunities and other are thematic calls. Information on such opportunities is available on the BASS’ webpage: https://business.esa.int/how-to-apply
An initiative that has not been issued yet is the “Space in response to humanitarian crises” call. An info session to present the call will be organised online on the 21st of April 2022, while the call will open to applications on the 25th. Further information can be accessed here: https://business.esa.int/funding/invitation-to-tender/space-response-to-humanitarian-crises
If you want to know more about the opportunities made available by the Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme of the European Space Agency visit their webpage: https://business.esa.int/
The recordings of the webinar are available here:
Stay tuned for the next webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner that will be hosted by the Slovak Space Office on the 20th of May 2022 between 11:00 AM and 12:00 AM CET!