Space Defence Investment Manifesto Space is not just a resource—it is the frontier of global defence. As nations and societies increasingly rely on space for communications, navigation, surveillance, and national security, we recognise space as the next battlefield, the heart of technological advancement, and the backbone of global stability. We Affirm The Strategic Imperative of Space Defence Space is no longer a passive enabler of economic or technological activity. It is the core of modern defence. From satellite communications to missile defence, space-based technologies are critical to national security. As investors, we acknowledge that space is central to the defence infrastructures of governments, multinational organisations, and sovereign nations. The militarisation of space is a reality—and it is our responsibility to ensure its security, resilience, and accessibility for future generations. The Urgency of Action The global space environment is becoming increasingly contested. The weaponisation of space, rising geopolitical tensions, and space debris pose a direct threat to the security of all space assets. As investors in the defence sector, we recognise the urgent need to fund and support technologies that protect against threats like anti-satellite weapons (ASATs), cyberattacks, and orbital collisions. The long-term stability of space-based infrastructure depends on immediate and decisive investment in defence-focused space technologies. The Power of Public-Private Partnership Governments alone cannot secure the future of space. The space industry must unite through public-private partnerships (PPPs) to foster innovation, resilience, and sovereign autonomy. We commit to aligning our investments with government priorities, including EU and NATO defence frameworks, while empowering space startups and dual-use technologies that provide both commercial and defence capabilities. We recognise that collaboration between the private sector and defence agencies is essential to meet the ever-growing demands of space security and to keep pace with emerging threats. The Role of Investment in Resilience and Sovereignty Our investment strategy must focus on space resilience, including resilient satellite infrastructure, space domain awareness (SDA), debris mitigation, and space cyber defences. We will support the development of autonomous space capabilities to ensure that no nation is vulnerable to malicious interference. By funding technologies that enhance strategic autonomy, we help guarantee sovereign defence in space and support national and European objectives for security and self-sufficiency. The Commitment to Ethical Investment and Governance As investors, we uphold the principles of responsible governance in space, ensuring that investments adhere to ethical standards and align with international law. We call on all space operators to adopt guidelines that protect the peaceful use of space, following frameworks such as the United Nations Outer Space Treaty, the European Space Strategy for Security and Defence, and the EU’s Space Programme. We will ensure our investments contribute to equitable access to space, secure and sustainable operations, and the prevention of harmful space activities. The Imperative of Geostrategic Stability Space is not just a commercial frontier—it is a geostrategic asset. The future of international stability and peace hinges on the ability to secure space. We, as investors, understand that space security is a core pillar of national security, and we are committed to driving investments that contribute to global peace and geostrategic stability. Our Vision for the Future of Space Defence We envision a future where space is: A secure and resilient domain free from aggression and disruption. A cooperative arena for nations and companies, underpinned by shared principles of security, sovereignty, and peace. A space of innovation, where technologies like AI, quantum encryption, space-based defence systems, and space situational awareness create new possibilities for defence and security. Our Call to Action We, the investors, commit to: Funding resilient, secure, and innovative space technologies that protect space-based infrastructure and national security. Aligning with global defence strategies, including the EU Space Strategy, NATO’s Space Policy, and international frameworks for space security. Ensuring that all investments contribute to the responsible use of space, in line with the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and Space Law. Collaborating with governments, space agencies, and defence organisations to build a space defence ecosystem that is sustainable, autonomous, and secure. Space is the next frontier of defence. We must act now to secure it. Let’s invest in space defence today—so that peace, security, and prosperity in space can be a reality for all.

THE ESA Investor Network supporting space startups – the story of SPAICE THE ESA Investor Network supporting space startups – the story of SPAICE For the European space industry, maintaining strong investor relationships is essential for expansion, establishing connections and recommendations. Community building, credibility, knowledge exchange, and effective communication are crucial, particularly in an industry where word-of-mouth plays a significant role in attracting capital. To address this need, the European Space Agency (ESA) established the ESA Investor Network, facilitating connections among startups, investors, and ESA programmes. The network now comprises more than 50 members, ranging from Venture Capital funds to banks, including institutional and corporate investors. The Investor Network aims to support investors in investing in the space sector. Members receive valuable advice and support on various matters, including information on space market assessments. It also offers strategic and technical due diligence, as well as access to a monthly deal flow curated by the Ventures and Financing Office. Additionally, the network provides access to ESA’s strategic activities such as SpaceTech platform and Helios Space Index. Recently, SPAICE, a UK startup from the ESA Business Incubators, started its financing journey with the network’s support. SPAICE has developed a suite of AI-powered solutions to bring autonomy to space logistics, enabling in-orbit satellite life extension services. Their scalable, data-driven technology is applicable to terrestrial, underwater, and aerial dual-use applications. SPAICE solutions offer significant advantages over current servicing technology, which is limited by manual operations and prohibitive costs. Their solutions can enhance satellite lifespans by 50%, boost revenue generation by 50%, and reduce collision risks by 20% at competitive prices, democratizing logistics services for satellites in any orbit. Their universal AI-powered solution is agnostic to any target satellite and capable of performing various robotic operations, including upgrading, maintaining, and inspecting satellites, cargo transportation, assembling space structures, and actively removing debris. SPAICE’s technology can scale to other verticals where autonomous navigation and robotics capabilities are crucial, including lunar landing and rover navigation, underwater inspection, and maintenance operations. SPAICE plans its first in-orbit demonstration in Q4 2025/Q1 2026, positioning them as the first company to deploy a general intelligent space solution, overcoming significant barriers related to AI use in space. The startup is currently closing SAFEs up to £1M, as well as securing contracts and grants, with plans to close a £2.5M equity round later on. In 2024, with the assistance of the ESA Investor Network, SPAICE initiated discussions with numerous interested investors, including Primo Ventures and OTB Ventures. By bridging connections among startups, investors, and ESA programs, the ESA Investor Network fuels innovation, fosters growth, and drives the future of space technology. Success stories like SPAICE highlight the network’s central role in shaping the space economy. Discover more about the ESA investor network and its contribution to space exploration and technology. 🚀If you are a SpaceTech Company looking for funding you can apply for investment grants and other support here: https://esacontact.esa.int/EsaStartup/ 💰If you are an investor interested in joining the ESA investor network you can register here: https://esacontact.esa.int/EsaInvestor/  

The European space sector benefits from being diverse, robust, and enjoying rapid growth in recent years. European nations have a long history of cooperation in space research, technology development, and satellite deployment and the European space sector encompasses a wide range of activities, including satellite manufacturing, launch services, Earth Observation (EO) applications, broadcasting satellite services, global navigation solutions, and space exploration ventures. In this handbook, we will explore the key players, trends, risks, and opportunities to provide Business Angels, who are not yet operating in the sector, with the basic information to assess and explore investment opportunities in the space sector.

Brussels, 31st August 2023   BAE System and  EBAN Space Innovation Day bring together cutting-edge new space firms at BAE Systems AI Labs, the historic former home of the Marconi Research Centre. AIKO, Aquark, Lumi Space, Remos Space, ReOrbit, and SmartIR were selected to present their technologies, respectively, in unique analytics and data fusion capability, Quantum, Laser-based Space Situational Awareness, Software-defined Ground Systems and Satellite manufacturing, and infrared thermal radiation control for space and defence applications. 05 July, Chelmsford UK / Brussels Belgium:   BAE Systems, UK’s leading aerospace and defence company, joined together with EBAN Space, Europe’s largest gathering of private angel and early-stage investors in space and space-tech on 21 June to bring together some of Europe’s most promising Space and SpaceTech firms with BAE Systems Space business.  The day delivered in-depth exchanges on the state of deep-tech topics, including quantum, space-situational awareness, optical communications and more, as they relate to the Next Generation of Space technology that BAE Systems is building. Richly productive Snapshot of New Space Paradigm: The six firms were selected out of 24 companies presented to BAE Systems by EBAN Space’s members, including Seraphim Space, ESA, and EUSPA, as well as its cadre of serial space entrepreneurs and angel investors.  As such, it brought together an entire eco-system of entrepreneurs, incubators and accelerators, private investors and corporations for a unique and richly productive snapshot of not only what individual entrepreneurial companies are doing but also a picture of the totally new paradigm emerging for space and space-related industries and services in the world as well. “This Space Innovation Day gave us the opportunity to meet with dynamic space entrepreneurs from around Europe in informal, one-on-one discussions to freely exchange with them about what we at BAE Systems are looking for to complete our product range and what they can bring us,” commented Elizabeth Seward , Head of Space Strategy & Future Business at BAE Systems.  “At the same time, we also identified some areas where we can help these young companies advance quicker and better by offering them some of our technologies and services.” said John Young, Head of International Business Development – Space at BAE Systems.  “This is true ‘Open Innovation’ at its best,” concluded Seward. “The fact that the companies presented had been not only through world class incubators and accelerators as the ESA BICs and Seraphim Space Camp, but had also been invested in by members of the EBAN Space Community, thus showing market traction with real clients, revenues, and a potential for return on investment was reflected in the maturity of the individual companies and was a huge validation for us, making it a very worthwhile event”, commented Nick Appleyard, ESA Head of Applications and Solutions Department CIC-A. All of the six entrepreneurial companies noted that “the direct and in-depth conversations with BAE Systems senior-level technical and business executives gave us a real insight into what large corporations are specifically looking for in their potential cooperation with New Space entrepreneurs and how this can concretely translate into a win-win situation as well as how they can potentially help us achieve our goals quicker, easier, and cheaper in collaboration with them”.  The “space entrepreneurs” also commented on the “valuable exchanges with the other New Space companies within the Innovation Showcase, where they identified and discovered possible synergies among themselves”. “The private investor members of EBAN Space, be they Angel Groups such as UK Space Tech Angels, Rymdkapital, EstBAN (EE), DNA Cascais (PT), Cobin Angels (PL), Sophia Business Angels (FR), Angelus Funding (USA); be they Early Stage Venture Capitalists such as Seraphim Space Capital, SpaceTec Capital, Triangle Ventures— who have come together to invest in the new emerging space sector are pleased to see their portfolio companies inciting interest at the corporate level,” commented Ted Elvhage, EBAN Space Chair,   “The BAE Systems/EBAN Space Innovation Day shows that real benefit can be drawn from providing an information exchange platform at an early stage which may then lead to transformational deals for all stakeholders”.   The names and websites of the six companies chosen to present at this first Innovation Showcase are: AIKO – AIKO Space is a Deep-Tech Software company developing pioneering AI Technology for the Automation of Space Missions. Aquark – The company specialises in miniaturised systems for quantum technology and is building the world’s smallest cold atom system. Lumi Space – Commercial satellite laser ranging for the highest precision orbit determination available. Remos Space – Remos delivers software-defined baseband solutions for satellite ground operations (FI) ReOrbit – Manufacturer of autonomous & inter-networking satellites for data flow needs in space. SmartIR – Multispectral radiation control for space and defence applications.   For more information, please contact: Abel Fernandez abel@eban.org  

Brussels, 26th July 2023 The partnership between EIT Digital and EBAN signifies a powerful collaboration to foster innovation and drive growth within Europe’s tech ecosystem. By combining the strengths of EIT Digital’s expertise in digital innovation and open-innovation ecosystem with EBAN’s extensive network and representation of the early-stage investor community, the partnership aims to accelerate early-stage investments in startups and share best practices. By nurturing digital ventures, supporting technology scale-up, and providing growth support, the partnership aspires to bolster Europe’s competitiveness on a global scale, creating wealth and jobs and further establishing Europe as a competitive, inclusive, and sustainable force in the digital era. “The partnership between EBAN and EIT Digital is a testament to the commitment of both organisations to nurture and grow the tech ecosystem in Europe, accelerating early-stage investments in startups and sharing best practices. Our combined strengths will allow us to have a significant impact on the European deep tech and digital entrepreneurial landscape and go as far as bolstering Europe’s competitiveness on a global scale.” said Diva Tommei, Chief Innovation, Education and Marketing Officer.  “EIT Digital is a catalyst for digital innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe, forging collaborations and driving meaningful change. Their integrated approach to education, research, and business equips individuals with the skills to shape the future. By addressing societal challenges and fostering innovation, EIT Digital is a vital force for economic growth and progress in Europe.” said Jacopo Losso, EBAN General Director. EBAN, the European Business Angels Network, is the pan-European representative for the early-stage investor community gathering over 100 member organisations in more than 50 countries today. Established in 1999 by a group of pioneer angel networks in Europe with the collaboration of the European Commission and EURADA, EBAN represents a sector estimated to invest 11.4 billion Euros a year and play a vital role in Europe’s future, notably in the funding of SMEs. EBAN fuels Europe’s growth through the creation of wealth and jobs. EIT Digital is working for a competitive digital Europe that is inclusive, fair and sustainable. EIT Digital embodies the future of innovation by mobilizing a pan-European multi-stakeholder open-innovation ecosystem of top European corporations, SMEs, startups, universities and research institutes, where students, researchers, engineers, business developers and investors address the technology, talent, skills, business and capital needs of digital entrepreneurship. They build the next generation of digital ventures, digital products and services and breed digital entrepreneurial talent, helping businesses and entrepreneurs to be at the frontier of digital innovation by providing them with technology, talent, and growth support. EIT Digital answers specific innovation needs by, for example, finding the right partners to bring technology to the market, supporting the scale-up of digital technology ventures, attracting talent and developing their digital knowledge and skills.

CASSINI Business Accelerator is a six-month acceleration programme offering top-level business and investment coaching, training, events, and more that brings together 20 of the top space startups in Europe. The accelerator is tailored to meet the needs of space companies in their growth stage that already have a product on the market and have achieved sales or pre-commercial success, and that want to sustain their commercial growth by developing new market opportunities. Apply Now Looking For: European startups and scaleups Highly-ambitious and versatile founding teams Proven commercial traction and product-market-fit Looking to increase sales The Programme Benefits International growth oriented, focus on sales, and investment Access to key stakeholders across Europe Unique collaboration between 58 pan-european accelerator locations Highly-qualified mentors for dedicated 1:1 sessions Cross-industry synergies between space and non-space industries E-learning training and peer-learning. Monthly deep dive sessions & expert webinars. Fundraising support and a 75,000€ voucher for startups who successfully complete the programme The Programme Timeline Open Call February 1 – March 31 Applications for the first batch, from May-November, are open now. Apply before March 31, 2023. Startup Selection April The programme team will assess all applications and select 20 participating companies per batch. Batch Kick-off May In person batch meetup to kickoff the programme activities. All participating companies, lead coaches and accelerator teams will participate. 6 month programme May – November Focus on business and investment coaching, training, events & more. An accelerator tailored to meet the needs of your company. Demo Day – Programme end November Marks the end of the programme, graduation of batch startups, through a networking event with investors. CASSINI Business Accelerator The CASSINI Space Entrepreneurship Initiative is a European Commission entrepreneurial support mechanism that cuts across all components of EU Space Programme. It offers actions targeted at the full entrepreneurial lifecycle – from idea generation to market entry and growth – and covers both the upstream and downstream sectors. The CASSINI Business Accelerator is part of the CASSINI initiative. Launched in January 2023, the CASSINI Business Accelerator is the biggest space startup accelerator in Europe. CASSINI includes a seed and growth fund, as well as hackathons and mentoring, prizes, a business accelerator, partnering and matchmaking. Launched in January 2023, the CASSINI Business Accelerator is the biggest space startup accelerator in Europe.  

Orginisally published here Innovative go-getters are asked to develop concepts, products, or services to strengthen the EU defence industry and security capabilities. The global security environment is becoming more contested, complex, and interconnected. As armed conflicts and civil wars re-emerge in the EU’s neighbourhood, new and unconventional security threats have emerged or grown stronger, in an increasingly interconnected world. In the face of increased global instability, the EU needs to take more responsibility for its security and increase its capacity to act autonomously. In the 5th edition of the CASSINI Hackathons, innovative go-getters are invited to develop new concepts, products, or services that positively impact the European defence and security sector. Space data, information, and signals can enable novel and unique solutions for cross-terrain mobility and logistics, maritime threat intelligence, and infrastructure network resiliency. We challenge participants to innovate with earth observation data from Copernicus and satellite positioning and navigation services from Galileo & EGNOS. On top of that, we encourage participants to develop solutions with cybersecurity in mind from the start. #EUSpace to strengthen Europe’s defence and security Cross-Terrain mobility This challenge is looking for trailblazers to develop innovative concepts or design new products and services that enable cross-terrain mobility for defence forces, emergency response team and humanitarian aid forces in a variety of weather conditions. Making the seas more secure Tomorrow’s innovators are tasked with developing innovative concepts and designing new products or services to strengthen maritime intelligence against direct security threats and organised and environmental crime. Watch this: EU Space Programme synergies for maritime emergencies Protecting our critical infrastructure This challenge calls on participants to develop novel solutions that assess the risk of disruption to critical infrastructure and plan mitigation and recovery scenarios. It’s time to show off your originality by developing viable solutions that will enhance the competencies of the EU’s defence and security. The hackathon is open to anyone interested in entrepreneurship, the defence industry, and EU Space technologies. The 5th CASSINI Hackathon will take place simultaneously across 10 different locations on 24-26 March 2023. Click here for more information. Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

Ladies and gentlemen, the Galactica Final Event and EBAN Impact Summit have officially concluded with a bang! The energy was palpable at the stunning World Trade Center in Barcelona, Spain, where a two-in-one event took place on February 16-17. With attendees from over 30 countries, the #Networking buzzword truly describes this international gathering of European angels and VCs dedicated to impact investing. 16th February Kicking off the day was an information session about Galactica’s impact, best practices, and funding opportunities across various industries. The event boasted a lineup of brilliant speakers, such as Josep Casamada Ribot, Océane Le Bot, Giulia Francioni, Virginie Perron, Julia Vercher Alemany and specifically focused on the Aerospace Sector, Javier Leiva Rojo, Árisz Kecskés, Mario Vesco and Fabrice Testa. But the excitement didn’t stop there! The event followed with keynote speeches that delved into fascinating topics such as investing in DeepTech, the intersection of sectors in innovation, and building the world we love with SpaceTech. After a networking break, the five selected orbital projects took the stage, presenting their pitches and answering questions from the jury members Fabrice Testa, Annukka Mickelsson and  Albert Colomer I Espinet. The projects- Ampere (Dr Sara Correyero Plaza); Iroony (Anne Reboux); MVRPT (Vasilapostolos Ouranis), NOC-STRUT (Matthias Krödel) and SolarCybe (Alessia Gloder) – had the potential to shape the future and were a part of the first Galactica beneficiaries batch. After lunch, Lluís Juncà, the Director General for Innovation, Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship at Generalitat de Catalunya explained how the Catalonia region drives impact entrepreneurship and investment.   In the afternoon, Lutz Walter (ETP)  presented about Innovation trends in the textile industry and participated in a round table of 5 textile experts around Sustainability and circularity in the textile industry. To cap off the day, the five selected Pioneer projects –  ABEP Kreios Space (Adrián Senar Tejedor); BiomX (Karin Fleck); CertBLOC (Frank Kottler); Impact protection using green composites (Nélson Oliveira) and RCF (Marina G) – presented their pitches, with the jury team composed of Fabrice Testa, Annukka Mickelsson and Marco Nannini. But what about the awards, you ask? GALACTICA distributed €74k in prizes for the best pitches and posters presented at the final event. The EBAN team congratulates the projects for their excellent work:  Poster runner up aerospace: IDD (Pedro C.);  Poster runner up textile: Circular Functional Cleantech Textiles (Jo-Anne Godden);  Poster winner: Robocork (Ramon Escobar Galindo);  Pioneer pitch runner up aerospace: ABEP Kreios Space (Adrián Senar Tejedor);  Pioneer pitch runner up textile: rCF (Marina G.).;  Pioneer pitch winner: Impact protection using green composites (Nélson Oliveira);  Orbital pitch runner up aerospace: Ampere (Dr Sara Correyero Plaza);  Orbital pitch runner up textile: Iroony (Anne Reboux) and  Orbital pitch winner: SolarCube (Alessia Gloder). To wrap up this first day in style, the CEO of Tech Barcelona, Miquel Marti, extended a warm welcome to EBAN’s team for an unforgettable and electrifying cocktail party at Pier 01 Barcelona Tech City!     17th February We kicked off Day 2 with some inspiring welcome speeches from Michael Donaldson and Juan Alvarez de Lara. But that was just the beginning – the theme for the day was “Impact Investing in Europe, the Business Angels perspective”, and the speakers lineup was nothing short of amazing! Lisa Hehenberger, Annukka Mickelsson, Marco Nannini, Alex Farcet took the stage, moderated by Juan Alvarez de Lara himself, to discuss the ins and outs of impact investing in Europe. And if that wasn’t enough, we were treated to an enlightening talk by the Former Minister of the Environment of Finland, Sirpa Pietikainen, on how the new taxonomy is changing green finance.  After a refreshing networking break, we dove into the world of “Impact Investing: VC in Europe” with some fantastic speakers, including Jaume Iglesies, Vera Elizabeth, Elena Rico, Teresa Guardans, and moderator Eva Hernandez. We learned that Europe still has some work to do to build a strong impact on the investor-VC community, but progress is being made. Increasing the number of impact-VCs will also encourage more business angels to invest in impact startups. But wait, there’s more!  We also had a “Corporates committed with Impact Investing” session featuring Clara Navarro, Marta Oller, and Ramón Lopez Roldan. This session delivered an important message that corporations are ready and willing to innovate their products, services, and business models by partnering with impact startups. However, there’s still a need for more education on how to make these collaborations work for everyone involved. To top it all off, we were honoured to have Sir Ronald Cohen grace the stage with his speech on “Impact trends: future of sustainable finance after cop27”. It was the perfect conclusion to an unforgettable day filled with insights, ideas, and inspiration. The EBAN events are a must-attend for anyone interested in the content, networking, and top-notch knowledge sharing. Don’t miss out on the next EBAN event – pre-register today here and join us in shaping the future! The above video was produced and edited by our project partner POLE EMC2. Event partners:  ACCIÓ  Seed&Click Project Partners: ASSOCIACIO AGRUPACIO D’EMPRESES INNOVADORES TEXTILS ASOCIACION DE EMPRESARIOS TEXTILES DE LA REGION VALENCIANA NEXT TECHNOLOGY TECNOTESSILE SOCIETA NAZIONALE DI RICERCA WACHSTUMSINITIATIVE SUDERELBE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT Corallia POLE EMC2 FUNDACION CORPORACION TECNOLOGICA DE ANDALUCIA European Business Angel Network  Science Park Graz GmbH PRODUTECH-ASSOCIACAO PARA AS TECNOLOGIAS DE PRODUCAO   About GALACTICA GALACTICA stimulates the creation of new industrial value chains across the advanced manufacturing, textile and aerospace industries. Entrepreneurs will learn about the opportunities and innovation potential of cross-fertilization and win a total of €4 000 000 in grant capital. This project has received funding from the  European Commission under grant agreement No 872336. More information about the project can be found here: Galactica | Project (galacticaproject.eu)  

Brussels, 28th November 2022 EBAN, the European Business Angel Network, and Access Space Alliance (ASA) are starting a collaboration focused on supporting the SpaceTech ecosystem through best practice sharing, networking and capacity building activities. “EBAN has been instrumental in advancing innovation and growth via early-stage investments for European entrepreneurship. This MoU sets up significant actions for common and complementary objectives which will benefit both our members” said Betty Bonnardel, founder and board member at ASA. “ASA has been involved in promoting policies and standards for the benefit of the space ecosystem, including public and private space-related financing. We look forward to building bridges and sharing knowledge with ASA network to further support the business development in Europe” said Fabrice Testa, EBAN Space Chairman. EBAN, established by the European Commission and EURADA in 1999, is the pan-European representative for the early-stage investor community, gathering 153 member organisations in 52 countries today, representing a sector estimated to invest 7,3 billion Euros a year and playing a vital role in Europe’s future, notably in the funding of SMEs and fuelling growth through the creation of wealth, opportunities and jobs. EBAN Space is the SpaceTech community launched by EBAN in December 2016 to promote and advance Europe’s ecosystem for entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment in the SpaceTech sector. EBAN Space is to be the centre of the European space ecosystem, gathering early stage and high-level players within the industry. Access Space Alliance (ASA) is a not-for-profit non-governmental international organization created in 2019. ASA’s mission is to bring together the small satellite sector and stakeholders to create dialogue in the space ecosystem and foster collaboration to promote equal business opportunities. ASA members are non-governmental and governmental organizations engaged in a broad range of space-related activities, including start-ups, SMEs, investors, academic institutions, research and development centres and space agencies, coming from spacefaring and emerging space nations.EBAN Space and Access Space Alliance are joining forces to foster the SpaceTech sector

The CASSINI Matchmaking has been recently launched to offer new business opportunities for space-related markets in Europe. The initiative features tailored matchmaking events for EU companies to expand their professional networks and find new partners, customers, and investors. For investors, this represents a unique opportunity to grasp the best performing companies from the space sector and related industries. The CASSINI Matchmaking initiative aims at enabling companies to liaise with corporate partners and find investors, driving the development of Europe’s space businesses.  CASSINI Matchmaking offers different tailored matchmaking opportunities to boost entrepreneurship, corporate innovation and investments in space-related businesses across the EU. Companies benefit from getting connected to key industry players and investors. Participating corporate and institutional organisations are presented with preselected startups, scaleups and SMEs that can help them innovate and achieve their development goals.  In particular, investors benefits from exchanging with fast-growing companies and their potential new customers, while obtaining a deal flow of investment-ready space companies. To make sure these matchmakings are valuable, both companies and investors themselves receive targeted preparation prior to their meetings.  Key element of the two-year initiative are 20 matchmaking events split in two editions and among live and digital meetings. To guarantee the greatest effect and get the best results, each batch is focused on specific topics, meaning companies and their corporate and investor matches will be connected through several industry fields, covering different business areas and addressing different value chains. The first ten matchmaking events in 2022 will focus on four topics. ‘Infrastructure lifecycle support’ targets companies specialising in space services supporting infrastructure such as wind turbines, train tracks, buildings or pipelines. ‘Safety & Security from (and in) Space’ is looking for businesses involved in critical assets for safety and security operations like positioning and navigation or internet communication via satellite. CASSINI Matchmaking addresses topics affecting consumers’ day-to-day lives, such as using satellite data to monitor human health, developing education tools or innovative gaming applications in the topic ‘Space for human well-being, education, and entertainment’. Lastly, ‘Improving access to Space’ covers hardware and software solutions to support launch systems and facilitate the delivery of spacecraft in orbit. In order to participate and engage with future-oriented companies, interested investors can always register to the Cassini Matchmaking website: https://www.cassini.eu/matchmaking/investors Investors will be then invited to attend the Launch event in Paris in mid-June, at the VIVA Technology conference. As of late summer 2022, several ad-hoc live and digital meetings will allow participating investors to stay ahead of the latest space technology advancements and opportunities.

In this report we present an overview of the investments in the SpaceTech companies done in Europe between 2017 and 2021,  with a focus on the most recent years 2020-2021. The analysis presented below is supported by a list of 918 deals gathered through the EBAN Space community and our partner Dealroom.co, a platform that gathers all publicly disclosed information on funding rounds made in Europe and beyond. The deals were filtered by the following criteria: companies’ headquarters based in Europe; type of technology utilised by the company and type of industry. Even if more and more investment rounds are publicly announced, and public fundings such as grants are also disclosed, we are fully aware that information about many investments done are not publicly available. Therefore, these publicly undisclosed deals cannot be taken into account in reports such as this one. We are confident that the data presented in this report shows a valid overview of the SpaceTech sector and its trends although representing the visible investment market only and some undisclosed deals. This report presents an overview of the investment activity across the European continent, not intended for comparison purposes with other markets around the world. The SpaceTech sector includes projects and companies that adopt space technologies both for space and non-space applications. Given that, in this report we decided to add to the classic upstream/downstream classification an analysis by industry and thematic areas for the biennium 2020-2021. This allows to present the SpaceTech sector to non-space experts and investors in a broader and complete way. This categorization exemplifies the impact of space technologies outside the space industry. Looking at the trend across the years 2017-2021, we can observe a surge of the investments in the SpaceTech sector, reaching 3.7 billion euros in 2021. It is also clear from the data that the number of funded companies decreased over the years by approximately 50%. Ultimately, the total amount invested in SpaceTech per country has been considered and compared with the contribution (in percentage) of each country to the ESA budget for activities and programmes.  

by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme Initially Published on 18 March 2022 here.  The event will be held live at EUSPA’s headquarters in Prague, as well as online. Attendance is free, but registration is required. The best time to invest in space – EUSPA launches info session for fund managers. According to the latest edition of the EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, in 2021, the GNSS and Earth Observation downstream market generated over EUR 200 billion in revenue. What’s more, this market is expected to reach nearly half a trillion euros within the next decade. Add this up and what you have is a very lucrative investment opportunity. But to take advantage of this opportunity, you need the right information and the right market intelligence – which is exactly what the Space Investments Capacity Building Programme is set to provide. Organised by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), in collaboration with the European Commission, European Space Agency (ESA) and European Investment Fund (EIF), this series of five workshops is designed to provide venture capitalists, fund managers and other investors with in-depth information on the space sector, including: Results from the latest European space market and investment studies Advice from the EIF on fund setup, investment strategy and building an investment team A platform to discuss business models and best practices Opportunities to network with other fund managers Details on the European Commission’s EUR 1 billion CASSINI Facility, an InvestEU initiative offering capital for establishing space-focused investment funds The first workshop, scheduled for 28 March 2022 from 14:00 – 17:00 CET, will focus on how EU space technology – including Galileo and Copernicus – can be used to support the construction sector, optimise the green transformation and maintain critical infrastructure. “If you want to become an active investor in this exciting field or simply want to gather more information before deciding to raise a new fund, then this capacity building programme is for you”, says Fiammetta Diani, EUSPA Head of Market Downstream and Innovation. The event will be held live at EUSPA’s headquarters in Prague, as well as online. Attendance is free, but registration is required. For participants able to attend physically in Prague, please send an email to market@euspa.europa.eu to secure your place in the venue. Questions related to the workshop series or requests for additional information can be directed to this email address as well. Mark Your Calendars: Space Investments Capacity Building Programme 2022 Episode 1: Infrastructure lifecycle support from space, EUSPA, Prague, Monday 28 March 2022 Episode 2: Security and defence (in and from space), COM, Brussels, Monday 2 May 2022 Episode 3: Consumer space solutions: well-being, education and entertainment, EUSPA, Prague, Monday 23 May 2022 Episode 4: Access to space (launchers, ground systems, modular technology, etc), ESA, Paris, Tuesday 7 June 2022 Episode 5: Fund setup, investment strategy, investment team, exit strategy, EIF, Luxemburg, Monday 27 June 2022 Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

Watch this Space: “Funding Space Forum”   Our  “Funding Space Forum”, in cooperation with EUSPA and the Cassini Initiative, took off 🚀 early last week with 100 starry-eyed attendees as passengers! The discussion orbited around the opportunities the EU is creating for companies to grow and be competitive on an international level. The stars of the event were our dazzling speakers, Fiammetta Diani, Head of Market Development at EUSPA  who presented the current activities and future plans from EUSPA to support space-tech entrepreneurs in their effort to concur the final frontier; Tomas S. Jonsson, Team Leader CASSINI initiative, European Commission, DG Defence Industry and Space, who revealed everything under the sun in terms of relevant steps implemented by European Commission and what space-tech companies can expect; Uli Fricke, CEO Triangle Venture Capital Group, CEO FunderNation and Rob Desborough, Managing Partner Seraphim Space Fund, CEO Seraphim Space Camp, who shared with the audience breath-taking achievements by European space-tech companies who shot for the stars thanks to private investors and funds; and our beaming moderator, Fabrice Testa, Co-chairman Luxembourg Space Tech Angels and EBAN Space Chairman. Our five selected space-tech companies were all out of this world but the investor jury gravitated toward the rising star company “Lympik”. We are over the moon for them and can’t wait to see them pitch at our Annual Congress in Cork! We were starstruck with Justyna Redelkiewicz, Head of Sector Consumer Solutions, Market and Technology at EUSPA, and her closing speech encouraging entrepreneurs to launch their business with the support of European institutions. EUSPA is most welcome in the EBAN universe where space-tech companies and angel investors share the skies! Together we can shoot for the moon! We thank our lucky stars for having such brilliant partners and participating companies. To keep up to date with future events, all you have to do is follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter – it’s not rocket science! REWATCH NOW THE RECORDING

On October 5th from 1:00pm CET to 19:30pm CET The conference will present the main project results to the wider public. The visibility of the 60 start-ups which participated in the Space Academies will be maximized thanks to a dedicated poster exhibition and hearing success stories, best practices and the lessons learned. The event will provide policy recommendations and will reflect on the follow-up of the initiative, its integration into the broader European ecosystem of support for start-ups and the long-term sustainability. There will be plenty of opportunities for further networking between the start-ups, the project partners, investors, policy makers and EU and ESA officials. Participation is free of charge, but registration is mandatory. The event/venue will be fully Covid-compliant. The venue is the Manos Conference Centre, located in Brussels, Chaussée de Charleroi 135  

GALACTICA launches 8 Learning expeditions to foster cross–sectoral innovation in  Aerospace, Textiles and Advanced Manufacturing Sectors to be held along October &  November. July 21st, 2021– GALACTICA launched, last week, the registration and information for the 8 learning  expeditions among the different prioritized sectors: textile, aeronautics/aerospace and advanced  manufacturing. At the same time, the first 4 calls for travel vouchers to participate in these, were opened  through expressions of interest. The experiences of the cross–cluster learning expeditions will consist of  cross–sectoral visits to leading companies in the industry, followed by workshops to foster the generation  of new projects and collaborations between the different sectors. GALACTICA Learning Expeditions and cross–sectoral fertilization workshops. GALACTICA has prepared 8 Learning expeditions for cross–sectoral innovation in Aerospace, Textiles and  Advanced Manufacturing Sectors to be held along October & November 2021. This is an opportunity to  visit, learn and listen to success stories from leading companies from different industrial sectors. Inter–cluster learning expeditions experiences will foster cross–sectoral collaborations throughout visits to  industry–leading companies (i.e. Airbus Composite manufacturing facilities, Lufthansa Technik, ANTEX among others) and top research facilities (German Aerospace Center (DLR), Fraunhofer IFAM, Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), LEITAT Technological Center, IRT Jules Verne, ZAL –Center for Aeronautical research, CATEC, CENTI…) followed by networking between the different participants and local companies, and workshops to facilitate the generation of cross–sectoral ideas. Inter–cluster mutual learning visits and innovation workshops will bring together the different sectors involved with the aim to reduce the silo–like sectoral boundaries fostering, the get–to–know on the operations in other sectors, the innovation mechanisms other used and seeding of cross–sectoral collaboration for innovation. This can lead to untapped opportunities that arise from crossings of the sectors, both in terms of technological cooperation and innovation such as development of new materials,  processes and products, but also in terms of non–technological innovation such as the development of new business models, new marketing tools, management systems, processes, creativity tools and industrial design. Do not miss this opportunity to learn the latest trends in the sectors of aerospace, textile and advanced manufacturing, participate in cross–sectoral fertilization workshops and networking opportunities that Galactica offers you. Information and registration to GALACTICA Learning expeditions can be done from the webpage: https://galacticaproject.eu/galactica–learning–expeditions/ There you can find the full agenda and financial support to participate. Startups and SMEs can apply for travel vouchers of up to €650 to participate in one of GALACTICA’s learning expeditions. https://galacticaproject.eu/events/category/learning–expedition/ Read entire press release here: Press Release – GALACTICA results 1st Call for proposals

Space Academy Europe, our fifth Space Academy, took place on the 16-18th June 2021 organized by EBAN – European Business Angel Network. The Space Academy was fully embedded into the EBAN 2021 Annual Congress, and entrepreneurs had the opportunity to attend sessions on topics of investment as well as the SpaceUp workshops. The EBAN Annual Congress is one of Europe’s largest international private investment and entrepreneurship events, bringing together early stage investors; business angels; VCs; entrepreneurs; accelerators; corporates and startups. As a result of travel restrictions due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Space Academy and the EBAN Annual Congress were delivered through a virtual platform, which allowed companies from anywhere in the world to participate and connect with others. 172 entrepreneurs joined the Space Academy and its workshops. Before the Space Academy, 10 selected startups each received four personalized studies on their companies from experts on business model design, intellectual property rights, and access to finance and human resources. During the event, as well as attending open workshops each startup participated in 6 intensive one-to-one consultation meetings with SpaceUp experts to review the report findings and ask questions on the following topics: business development, IPR, access to finance, HR, working with business angels and finance for innovation. Meanwhile, other participants were in workshops discussing key topics related to business, technology, investment and the European space sector. SpaceUp held a panel session at EBAN Annual Congress on “Space as an Enabler”, introducing the opportunities offered by space technologies as enabler of innovative and disruptive solutions. It was moderated by Uli Fricke, CEO of FunderNation, and Candace Johnson, President Emeritus of EBAN. The speakers included Dr. Lorenzo Scatena, Secretary General of Fondazione E. Amaldi, Guido Baraglia, Principal Business Development Manager – Satellite Solutions at Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Ebru Kanat, Divisional Business Transformation at Bosch. The final SpaceUp event will take place in the beginning of October 2021 and it is planned to be an in-person event. Any updates will be announced

ACCESS.SPACE Alliance calls for extraordinary measures to support the small satellite sector and counteract Covid-19 crisis London, UK, 24 March 2020 – In view of these difficult times when the Coronavirus ‘Covid-19’ is threatening lives and the economic future of many, the ACCESS.SPACE Alliance, which represents the small satellite sector and its stakeholders, expresses its worries and concerns on the effects of the current crisis for our members  and the wider Space ecosystem. Since Covid-19 has become a global pandemic, the NewSpace ecosystem, including some of our members, are facing the following challenges in their day-to-day operations: cash flow constrains, lack of resources to fund operations, difficulties in accessing finance, reduction of customer orders, revenue losses and/or lack of visibility about the consequences of the crisis, with a disproportionate impact for startups and SMEs , which are at risk of business interruption or even bankruptcy due to the new crisis; delays or difficulties in terms of workforce availability, supply chain disruptions, manufacturing, launches, with sometimes risks of financial penalties; delays in research, development and innovation (RD&I) projects and operational problems to join, participate or continue such projects; and delays or difficulties in terms of networking, contract acquisition and business development due to restrictions in terms of mobility, flight cancellations, travel restrictions and prohibitions of conferences and other events. ACCESS.SPACE also notes that due to the current crisis global telecommunications networks have been facing unprecedented strain leading to data speed disruption and service level degradation at a time when connectivity is critical to keep the economy running, inform and educate the public and coordinate the battle against the virus. Although no major outages have occurred so far, the risk of such – whether by congestion or unavailability of workforce or spare parts – is growing as the pandemic spreads, calling for more disaster-resilient communication networks. Satellite-based communication networks by design are largely independent from terrestrial infrastructure and hence should play a greater role in disaster communication strategies supporting disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. ACCESS.SPACE applauds ongoing efforts to deal with the virus crisis and mitigate its substantial socio-economic impact. We recommend taking extraordinary measures to counteract the crisis and anticipate long term consequences. Public support for RD&I remains critical and may well be the only option for startups and SMEs during these difficult economic times. Among the measures that should be implemented with a sense of urgency are: tax measures such as deferred payment of corporate taxes, social security contributions and VAT, advancement of government payments, tax rebates and direct financial support; pan-European and national programmes to ensure that workers (including self-employed) are protected against income losses and to maintain the flow of liquidity to the economy, especially to make sure that the most affected companies have the necessary support and financial liquidity; immediately available ambitious budgets for RD&I by the space ecosystem, which can not only support the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but also global efforts to monitor and mitigate the Covid-19 outbreak; administrative steps and workarounds to ease operational problems during RD&I programmes such as extending the deadlines to allow sufficient time to finalise high-quality proposals and allow substitute or delayed performance; governmental measures to support and accelerate the ongoing deployment of new ground-breaking satellite constellations and related ventures, allow them to raise capital, strengthen network resilience globally and support the ecosystem of suppliers and service providers that has developed around these emerging satellite constellations; and public support measures to allow startups and SMEs to operate their business “remotely/virtually” and to stimulate relevant innovations (e.g. awarding prizes to stimulate innovative ideas and new applications). ACCESS.SPACE wishes to thank institutions, governments and agencies for their actions, and for in taking requests from our members for support into account. We are taking our share in the global efforts to deal with the current virus crisis. We suggest reflecting on its consequences and seeking to transform the crisis into an opportunity to promote more sustainable behaviors and lower ecological footprint. We remain at the disposal for any consultation related to the above and are happy to work with other stakeholders to help our members implementing appropriate measures. ENDS Press Contact Harry Pirrwitz, harry@ciceroandfriends or call +44 (0)73 9252 5980 About ACCESS.SPACE. The ACCESS.SPACE Alliance is an international industry body uniting the small satellite sector formed to promote a viable and self-sustaining ecosystem and to encourage and advocate for the development of the same. We comment with authority and credibility on behalf of our members on policy as well as technical and commercial issues related to the small satellite industry. We foster collaboration by creating dialogue and awareness, address key issues to develop the sector and promote policies and standards on matters that concern and benefit our members

  Fabrice Testa Succeeds Anthony Clarke as New EBAN Space Chairman   Premier Angel Group has invested more than 30 million Euros into Space-Tech Start-Ups since its launch in December 2016 EBAN is pleased to announce that Fabrice Testa, Space-Tech Entrepreneur and Investor, Co-Chairman of Luxembourg Space Tech Angels (LSTA), and Senator for Luxembourg at the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF), has been elected to succeed Anthony Clarke as Chairman of EBAN Space, the organisation’s vertical focusing on space and space-tech related investments.   EBAN Space aims to be the destination for investments, mentoring, best practices sharing and networking for Europe’s space-tech entrepreneurs and early stage investors. Under the leadership of Anthony Clarke, EBAN President Emeritus, Co-founder of UK Space Tech Angels and Seraphim Space Fund, EBAN Space Business Angel members have invested more than 30 million Euros in the last three years into such European start-ups as D-Orbit, Hummingbird, Rezatech, Sofant Technologies, etc. Many of these companies have been incubated by the ESA BICS (European Space Agency Business Incubation Centres) with whom EBAN Space had had a long partnership. Outside of Europe, EBAN Space Members have also invested in New Space companies in Singapore and USA. EBAN Space Members also provide invaluable mentoring and networking, as they are amongst the few private investors who have experience in creating and leading their own successful space and space-tech companies through the entire Angel Investor, Venture Capital and Exit process. The EBAN Space Board include top level representatives from SES ASTRA and SES Global, Seraphim Space Fund, SpaceTec Partners, Aerospace Valley, Angelus Funding, FunderNation, Cobin Angels, Romivo, etc. In addition and most pertinently, EBAN Space includes three national Space-Tech chapters from the UK, Luxembourg and Estonia with new national chapters being formed. About Fabrice Testa:  Fabrice Testa is a serial innovator, entrepreneur, angel investor and startup mentor.  Among other companies he is co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Maana Electric which aims to be the utility company of the solar system.  He is the Head Coach for the space cohort of the edition 9 of the Luxembourg acceleration programme Fit4Start. Fabrice was the SpaceTech coordinator of the Luxembourg CES2020 delegation led by Luxfactory where he is acting as Chief Commercial Officer. About EBAN and EBAN Space: EBAN is the pan-European representative for the early stage investor community gathering over 150 member organizations in more than 50 countries today. Established in 1999 by a group of pioneer angel networks in Europe with the collaboration of the European Commission and EURADA, EBAN represents a sector estimated to invest 11.4 billion Euros a year and playing a vital role in Europe’s future, notably in the funding of SMEs. EBAN fuels Europe’s growth through the creation of wealth and jobs. EBAN launched EBAN Space in December 2016 to promote and advance Europe’s ecosystem for entrepreneurship, innovation, and investing in space. About ESA BICS:  ESA Technology Transfer and Business Incubation Office initiated its ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) in 2003 to inspire and work with entrepreneurs to turn space-connected business ideas into commercial start-ups companies. This has proven to be a very successful initiative. Over 700 start-ups have been fostered throughout Europe with thousands of new high tech jobs created thanks to the applications of space systems, the valorization of ESA intellectual properties and the space technologies transfers – and more than 180 new start-ups are taken in yearly at the ESA BICs.

      Innovation Showcase featured KLEOS Global (LU-Space Situation Awareness), HIBER (NL-IoT), Sofant Technologies (UK- SatCom and 5 G RF MEMS),  OroraTech (DE-On-Board Cube Sat Processing for InfraRed Big Data Collection),  Infinite Orbits (UK/LU – Docking and Autonomous Control forGEO Satellite Life Extension) and Zubax Robotics (EE – Electric Propulsion) 13 May 2019. Cannes.  EBAN Space, Europe’s largest gathering of private angel and early-stage investors in space and space-tech, the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) and Thales Alenia Space, joint venture between Thales 67% and Leonardo 33%, recently animated the “Innovation Showcase” in Cannes. This event hosted 6 innovative New Space companies.  As such, it brought together an entire eco-system of entrepreneurs, incubators and accelerators, private investors and corporations for a unique and richly productive snapshot of not only what individual entrepreneurial companies are doing, but a picture of the totally new paradigm emerging for space and space-related industries and services in the world as well. “The fact that the companies presented had been not only through world class incubators and accelerators as the ESA BICs and Seraphim Space Camp, but had also been invested in by members of the EBAN Space Community, thus showing market traction with real clients, revenues, and a potential for return on investment was reflected in the maturity of the individual companies and was a huge validation for us, making it a very worthwhile event”, commented Robert Carpentier, North America & Europe Operators Marketing & Sales VP for Thales Alenia Space.  “The start-ups were truly very high quality,” said Vincent Clot, Thales Alenia Space Open and Business Innovation Leader.  “We see potential at different levels with all of them and will investigate opportunities to collaborate with them in a pure Open Innovation spirit.” All of the 6 entrepreneurial companies noted that “the direct and in-depth conversations with Thales Alenia Space senior-level technical and business executives gave us real insight into what large corporations are specifically looking for in their potential cooperation with New Space entrepreneurs and how this can concretely translate into a win-win situation”.  The “space entrepreneurs” also commented on the “valuable exchanges with the other New Space companies within the Innovation Showcase, where they identified and discovered possible synergies among themselves”. “ESA is extremely proud that the quality and growth potential of the companies that we have identified and supported with grant money and in-kind contribution is being recognised not only by the EBAN Space Business Angels and Early Stage funds who have invested in our ESA BICs portfolio companies but also by one of the world’s leading space industry companies,” said Frank Salzgeber, head of the Innovation and Ventures Office of ESA. “The private investor members of EBAN Space, be they Angel Groups such as UK Space Tech Angels, Luxembourg Space-Tech Angels, EstBAN (EE), DNA Cascais (PT), Cobin Angels (PL),  Aerospace Valley (FR), Sophia Business Angels (FR), Angelus Funding (USA); be they Early Stage Venture Capitalists such as Seraphim Space Capital, SpaceTec Capital, Triangle Ventures— who have come together to invest in the new emerging space sector are pleased to see their portfolio companies inciting interest at the corporate level,” commented Anthony Clarke, EBAN Space Chair.  “The Thales Alenia Space/EBAN Space/ESA-BICs Innovation Showcase shows that real benefit can be drawn from providing an information exchange platform at an early stage which may then lead to transformational deals for all stakeholders”.   The names and the contact details of the 6 companies chosen to present at this first Innovation Showcase are: Hiber – The low Power Global Area Network. Revolutionising IoT Connectivity (NL) https://hiber.global Coen Janssen, Co-founder   Infinite Orbits – Develops and operates life extension and BIU platforms with a new space approach to extend the operational lifetime of in-orbit GEO telecommunication satellites and deliver optimized satellite fleet management solutions (UK) https://www.infiniteorbits.io Tamas Sarvary, CEO   Kleos Global – GEOINT DaaS that when deployed in conjunction with mapping or other imagery within data fusion platforms provides an innovative method of identifying activity of interest to the customer (LU) https://kleos.space Andy Bowyer, CEO   OroraTech – Global real-time infrared satellite data (DE) https://ororatech.com Bjorn Stoffers, Co-founder – Managing Director Thomas Grübler, Co-founder – Managing Director   Sofant Technologies – Highly patented, low cost RF MEMS technology which dramatically reduces the power consumption of SatCom and 5G antenna systems (UK) http://www.sofant.com David Wither, CEO   Zubax Robotics – Researches, designs, and manufactures electric propulsion systems for aerospace and other applications (EE) https://zubax.com Pavel Kirienko, CEO/CTO   About Thales Alenia Space: Drawing on over 40 years of experience and a unique combination of skills, expertise and cultures, Thales Alenia Space delivers cost-effective solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. Governments and private industry alike count on Thales Alenia Space to design satellite-based systems that provide anytime, anywhere connections and positioning, monitor our planet, enhance management of its resources, and explore our Solar System and beyond. Thales Alenia Space sees space as a new horizon, helping to build a better, more sustainable life on Earth. A joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space also teams up with Telespazio to form the parent companies’ Space Alliance, which offers a complete range of services. Thales Alenia Space posted consolidated revenues of about 2.5 billion euros in 2018 and has around 8,000 employees in nine countries. www.thalesaleniaspace.com About EBAN Space:  EBAN Space is the Community of Business Angels and Early Stage Investors of EBAN, the European Business Angel Network (EBAN) dedicated to promoting and investing in space and space-related ventures. http://www.ebanspace.org About ESA BICs: The ESA Innovation and Ventures Office (Formerly, ESA Technology Transfer and Business Incubation Office) initiated its ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) in 2000, and held the 1st selection committee on July 3rd 2003, to inspire and work with entrepreneurs to turn space-connected business ideas into commercial start-ups companies. This has proven to be a very successful initiative. Since July 2003, over 700 start-ups have been fostered throughout Europe with thousands of new high tech jobs created thanks to the applications of space systems, the valorization of ESA

The space industry is in the midst of a radical transformation. When SpaceX started launching its rockets a decade ago–making it far easier for commercial space startups to enter the market–it triggered a wave of entrepreneurial innovation. Today, Space is a $400B market that touches every aspect of our lives, from location-based services to global finance. The next generation of space technology will be responsible for delivering global internet, fighting climate change, and taking humanity to Mars. To accomplish such audacious goals, the industry will require talent with diverse skills and backgrounds from every walk of life. We spoke with the most influential companies and leaders across entrepreneurial space, who were generous in sharing detailed practical advice, big-picture guidance, and the stories of their own careers. We’ve created this guide to give you concrete steps to start your journey towards a career in space now.

Europe boasts a strong space sector. This is largely the legacy of successful space programmes, particularly those on satellite navigation and Earth observation, mostly built on public support. However, the space sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation and development on a global scale. Major technology advancements, a new entrepreneurial spirit and a renewed policy focus have put the space sector under the spotlight on the global innovation stage. Such rapid and constant transformation calls for new approaches to funding and supporting space ventures. The global space economy grew by 6.7 % on average per year between 2005 and 2017, almost twice the 3.5 % average yearly growth of the global economy. One particular contribution to this growth has been the “NewSpace” phenomenon: a series of technological and business model innovations that have led to a significant reduction in costs and resulted in the provision of new products and services that have broadened the existing customer base.

The space industries, since their inception in the late 1940s, have been discrete, relatively niche sectors whereby political and military considerations superseded scientific and market rationales. This status quo is changing rapidly in recent years with increased commercialization of the sector and thus, poses the problem of access to finance, especially for small and medium space enterprises. To date there has not been a comprehensive study with statistically significant data of the economic and financial developments and requirements of the European space industries. There is an expressed need for industrywide investment research and publications on the subject. Without comprehensive and reliable aggregate economics, business cycle and financial metrics, commercial banks and private equity funds would continue to offer sub-optimal financial products. Ultimately, this results in forgone opportunities for European economies and society in general. Hence, this paper attempts to examine in a systematic way the access to finance challenges faced by European small and medium enterprises active in the space sector, particularly when expanding their business activities. The conducted research identified market inefficiencies and suboptimal financing conditions for European space SMEs. Significant improvement in the investors’ confidence in the sector along with moderate pace of public investments, mainly in the form of financial instruments, are both simultaneously needed to reduce the perceived market risk.

SpaceUp is a project financed by the EU Framework programme for Research and Innovation (Horizon 2020). The overall objective of SpaceUp is to contribute at a European level to the safeguarding and further development of a competitive and entrepeneurial space industry. Throughout the project lifetime 6 Space Academies will take place in various locations in Europe, networking new space tech entrepreneurs with potential partners in Finance, Business, Space Clusters and Science Parks, plunging Start-ups into a genuinely European Space ecosystem. MORE INFO: https://www.spaceupeurope.eu/

Luca Peyrano, CEO of London Stock Exchange ELITE, Candace Johnson, EBAN President Emeritus, Paola Cuneo, LSEG, Nick Appleyard, Business Applications Director at European Space Agency   This last Friday, 5 October saw the type of network and ecosystem realisation that EBAN has been working so hard to achieve with its partners over the last years. In Milan, two of EBAN partners, London Stock Exchange ELITE and ESA (European Space Agency) gathered together at the Milan Stock Exchange for a great event to present 10 of the best ESA portfolio companies from around Europe to many first-time investors in space. Through its partnership with the ESA BICs (Business Incubation Centres), EBAN and in particular, EBAN Space had mentored and invested in quite a few of the companies chosen to present at the event. It was thrilling to see the entire chain from incubation to acceleration to angel investment to venture capital and to the Stock Exchange. EBAN’s Partnership with ELITE focuses on scale ups and many of the companies presenting at the event had also participated in our Scaleup of the Month initiative. This was the second edition the event, with the first taking place in London in April 2018 again with EBAN’s participation. EBAN has learned that 4 out of the 10 companies that presented in London have already received a total of 13 million Euros of investment. The presenting companies came from Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Italy, Norway and the UK, Finland, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg and ran the gamut from satellite and launch manufacturers to big data analytics to cyber security and artificial intelligence.

Since 2016, the European Commission has established the Copernicus Accelerator as part of its Copernicus Start-up Programme. Through the Copernicus Accelerator, fifty promising start–ups using Copernicus data and information receive support from experienced mentors and work with them on advancing their business over a period of ten months. For the first time, half of the spots are allocated through an Open Call, to which start-ups can apply. The final participants thereof are selected through a selection process by a panel of experienced judges. Besides a video and a pitch deck, applicants for the Open Call need to provide a standard recommendation letter from an established organisation with experience or interest in Earth Observation. The deadline for the open call application closes on 15 September 2018, at 23:59 CEST. You can find more information on the following link : http://accelerator.copernicus.eu/opencall.

Seraphim Capital wanted to thank all participants for theri interest in our Seraphim Space Camp Investor Day, celebrating the culmination of the first edition of our Space Tech acceleration programme in London. We hope everyone who attended enjoyed the though-provoking discussions around the growing opportunities of space tech and managed to connect with the attendees and the 6 start-ups that pitched their businesses with confidence. Please find here an electronic copy of the brochure distributed on the day. Do not hesitate to get in touch with any of the Space Camp / Seraphim Capital Investment teams if you’d like additional information or for a direct introduction to the teams. Do also check out our social media that covers the activities of the programme and the investor day: YouTube Video Twitter LinkedIn We will ensure to send you through details of our future events. With Cohort #2 starting in London In less than 2 months these should come through to you very soon.

EBAN offered the reward to two fiery Portuguese ladies who created Firefly, a solution using satellite data and machine learning to better fight forest fires. The prizegiving ceremony for the third ActInSpace competition organized by CNES, ESA and ESA BIC Sud France was held during the Toulouse Space Show 2018. This year’s edition of the competition created to nurture entrepreneurial start-up initiatives employing space technologies brought together some 2,229 participants from 53 cities in 32 countries on five continents, who between them presented 510 start-up projects. As a sponsor and partner of ActInSpace, EBAN Space was delighted to offer a prize: the Women Entrepreneurship Award. The point was highlight the most promising project using space data or space technologies and lead by women. About the prize The award aims to raise the attention on women entrepreneurship especially in the space-tech sector. This prize is a great opportunity for all women to get in the entrepreneurship spotlight. What we aim to do is create more chances for men and women to work together in this fantastic sector that is the Space industry. The presentation showed an excellent entrepreneurial mindset from the team which has a very well-defined roadmap for the development of their project. Not only are they solving a serious problem, but they are also creating a big social impact for the communities they involved in their work.

Seraphim Capital’s launched the new “Space Camp Accelerator”, UK’s first dedicated accelerator programme for startups in the spacetech industry. They have now selected the six companies in this first cohort. They come from from the US, Denmark and the UK. The programme is underway and is 9 weeks in total, ending 9/10 July. The key partners are the new UK Space Agency, Dentons, Rolls-Royce, Cyient, European Space Agency, SA Catapult and Capital Enterprise as well as Airbus, SSTL and Telespazio. Here’s a run-down of which companies are in the programme…

“This is completely new. So far, we are the only ones in the UK who are creating an ecosystem for space tech,” says Anthony Clarke, managing director of Newable Ventures, whose UK Space Tech Angels (UKSTA) programme has closed investment rounds for seven UK-based start-ups since the beginning of 2017. Clarke’s team are currently sifting through hundreds of pitches for funding from entrepreneurs in this emerging field. The deserving few will get the chance to pitch for funding in one of the UKSTA showcases to the network of business angels that Newable has cultivated, including at the Space Technologies Investor Showcase event happening at NatWest’s Bishopsgate premises in London on 20 March.  

As the world’s only Space technology (‘SpaceTech’) focused venture capital fund, over the last 18 months we’ve been in the privileged position of having a panoptic view of all the innovation that is happening within the SpaceTech ecosystem. To put this in context, during this time we’ve identified more than 1,500 investment opportunities and have used our Seraphim Space Index to track c.250 SpaceTech companies that have raised venture funding. What we’ve learned from this unrivalled insight is the breadth and depth of innovation that’s happening within the SpaceTech ecosystem is far richer than many people realise, is happening across all segments of the market, and on a truly global basis. We feel that it is important that the true extent of this innovation is captured in a manner that makes it easily digestible for players within both the SpaceTech and Venture Capital communities. It is for this reason that we’ve decided to publish our own Seraphim SpaceTech Ecosystem Market Map.

Industry 4.0 and High Value Manufacturing Kick-Start Activities Invitation to tender Closing date: 7 March 2018 ESA’s Industry 4.0 and High Value Manufacturing Kick-Start Activities offer support and funding of up to € 60,000 per activity for companies looking to develop space empowered services for smart factories. Integrated Applications for Microgrids in Developing Economies Invitation to tender Closing date: 16 February 2018 In collaboration with IESA, ESA supports Feasibility Studies that identify and explore business opportunities for deploying space-enabled services which facilitate the decentralised management of microgrids in India and other developing countries.

EBAN Space Executive Committee at NewSpace Europe Conference NewSpace Europe is the first space conference in Europe to focus solely on the new space industry and the economic opportunity of space. Hosted by The Ministry of the Economy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Luxembourg City, NewSpace Europe took place on 16 and 17 November and centered around the theme “New Frontiers of Opportunity”. Through engaging conference sessions and unique networking opportunities, participants had the chance to discover and align with the people, technologies and ideas from across space and other diverse markets that are shaping and leading the industry. EBAN Space is very proud to have supported the NewSpace Europe conference with 8 of its executive committee members attending this highlight event of the space industry and taking an active role as speakers in the conference sessions: Mark Boggett, Seraphim Capital Managing Director, and Rainer Horn, Managing Partner of SpaceTec Partners, brought to the “Between a Rock and a Hard Space” panel insightful input from their great experience in investing in space. Candace Jonhson, EBAN President, presented her views on the work that has been done so far in her keynote “Back to the Future – 35 Years of NewSpace” Uli Fricke, CEO of Funder Nation and EBAN Space Executive Committee Chairman Anthony Clarke then took part in the “Seeding Stars” panel Finally, Frank Salzgeber, Head of ESA‘s Technology Transfer Programme Office, jumped on stage to introduce the amazing work that ESA is doing to support Space entrepreneurship and to reiterate that indeed “We Need More Space”! The evening reception sponsored by EBAN and EBAN Space offered to all participants great networking opportunities and selected entrepreneurs a great chance to get visibility.

The European Space Agency is continuously running new experiments and testing innovative technologies when it comes to monitoring the health of its astronauts on mission. During the Proxima mission, ESA evaluated “Everywear“, an experiment that gathers health data from astronauts via a system of wearable sensors and wirelessly transfers the information to a Space Station tablet. An app developed by France’s space agency CNES with specialists from MEDES and ESA, stores the data and allows it to be easily transferred to ESA’s space medicine specialists, who use it to make decisions and recommendations regarding the health of the astronaut. Curious to read more? The full article is available here!

Originally published by European Space Agency. LBA, one of the UK’s leading private investment groups and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) that establishes a joint commitment to cultivating successful new businesses in the UK that exploit space capabilities. LBA was recently acquired by City of London based Newable Limited. The activities will be undertaken within the framework of ESA Business Applications (formerly Integrated Applications Programme). This is dedicated to the development, implementation and pilot operations of space-enabled applications that will lead to innovative, sustainable services. Under the terms of the agreement, LBA seeks to co-fund promising projects that have been allocated financial support by ESA Business Applications. The agreement with LBA follows up the earlier announcement of the new £70m venture capital fund, Seraphim Space, which was launched in 2016 to harness the finance, expertise, and market access of a range of leading space companies and institutions in order to accelerate business growth and new market opportunities for space-enabled services. LBA, with its unique partnership with Seraphim, has designed and developed UK Space Tech Angels (UKSTA), an investment programme focused on UK space-related technology companies from seed to Pre-Series A investment stage. The focal point is predominately on downstream technology such as Earth Observation, Satellite communication, Navigation and Cybersecurity, but also on some non capital-intensive technologies such as Hardware (Sensors, Energy) and Transportation (UAVs, Transportation Management, Automated Vehicles). Space technologies and data are used in our daily life and in all industrial sectors, from farming, to FinTech, education, logistics and more. “An obstacle for many startups wanting to access public grant support is the need to match this investment with their own funds, to complete the financing of their development project,” says . “The London Business Angels agreement will help alleviate this early financial bottleneck.” “The commitment of London Business Angels nicely complements the Seraphim Space venture fund which invests at a later stage, taking promising activities to scale,” he adds. Anthony Clarke, LBA Managing Director comments, “Since its launch in December 2016, UKSTA has already gained significant momentum in the market and our angel investors and funds have already funded a number of potentially high growth early stage space tech businesses. Through this collaboration with ESA Business Applications and UKSTA, its relationship with Seraphim Capital and its access to Newable’s wide range of SME focussed support services, we are uniquely well placed to foster the next wave of early stage space tech innovation and to harness better links across the UK’s space tech eco-system.“

riginally published by Arendt & Medernach.O The Luxembourg law on the exploration and use of space resources of 20 July 2017 entered into force on 2 August 2017 and placed Luxembourg among the most innovative space-oriented nations in the world. The new law provides a legal framework for the “new space” activities. It aims at the further development of the constantly growing Luxembourg space industry employing already more than 700 highly skilled workers. As initially proposed, the new law consists of two main parts dealing respectively with the ownership of space resources and the authorisation regime for the exploration and use of such resources. Article 1 states that space resources are capable of being appropriated. The reasoning of the legislator is made, among others, by analogy with the rules governing the high seas and the possibility which exists to explore the resources of the latter without appropriating the high seas as such. The new law also sets a number of authorisation conditions, which need to be fulfilled by a potential operator to be allowed to carry out space missions. The exploration and use of space resources is consequently only possible on the basis of a ministerial authorisation granted to an operator (on a personal and non-assignable basis) with respect to a specific mission (articles 2, 3 and 5). The new law clearly states that the authorised operator has to carry out its activity in accordance with the international obligations of Luxembourg (article 2). Authorisation may be granted only to legal persons existing under Luxembourg law and having their registered office in Luxembourg in the form of a société à responsabilité limitée (S.à r.l.), a société anonyme (S.A.), a société en commandite par actions (S.C.A.) or asociété européenne (S.E.) (article 4). The shareholders of the operator may be Luxembourg or foreign, natural or legal persons. The application for authorisation must include any useful information for the assessment of such application and the mission program (article 6). A risk assessment analysis of the mission, including the respective insurance policy covering such risk, needs to be prepared by the operator and be submitted to the competent ministry together with the application. The authorisation shall also be subject to proof of an adequate financial basis to cover the risks relating to the mission which is the subject of the application for authorisation (article 10 (1)). The central administration, including the administrative and accounting structures, of the operator must be located in Luxembourg (article 7 (1)) and the operator should dispose of robust financial and internal governance schemes (article 7 (2)). The identity of direct or indirect shareholders holding a qualifying holding of 10% of the share capital or 10% of voting rights in the operator or, in the absence of such qualified holding, the identity of the 20 largest shareholders must be disclosed. The authorisation may be refused if the quality of the shareholders (article 8 (1)) or of the members of the management body (article 9 (1)) is unsatisfactory. At least two persons must be responsible for the management of the operator and must be empowered to effectively determine the direction of the business activity (article 9 (2)). Any subsequent change in the operator’s management body must be communicated to the competent ministry beforehand and the ministry holds a veto right with respect to the appointment of persons not fulfilling the relevant good repute and professional experience criteria (article 9 (3)). The operator must appoint an independent auditor. Any subsequent change of independent auditor by the operator shall be subject to the prior approval of the competent ministry (article 11). The authorisation that is being delivered may set out a number of requirements with respect to the activities in or outside Luxembourg, the limits associated with the mission or the modalities of the supervision of the mission (article 12). The costs of an application for authorisation shall be borne by the applicant and may range between EUR 5,000 to EUR 500,000 depending on the complexity of the application (article 13). The authorisation once granted may be withdrawn, among others, (i) if the operator no longer fulfils the conditions set for the granting thereof, (ii) if no use is made of the authorisation within thirty-six months from it being granted, or (iii) if the authorisation has been obtained based on false statements or irregular means (article 14). The operator which is granted an authorisation for a mission is fully responsible for any damage caused during the mission, including during all preparatory works (article 16). The granting of an authorisation for a mission does not dispense from the need to obtain additional approvals or authorisations, especially any business license (article 17). Finally, the new law contains a number of criminal law provisions applying in case of violation of the specific provisions of the law (article 18).

New Rochelle, NY, June 14, 2017—The Commentary entitled “Making Humans a Multi-Planetary Species” presents the vision of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, for future manned trips to other planets and specifically what will be needed to create a self-sustaining city on Mars. The article, drawn from Mr. Musk’s presentation at the 67th International Astronautical Congress, is published in New Space, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the New Space website until July 5, 2017. In the paper, Mr. Musk explores the planetary options for expanding to a space-bearing civilization and describes the advantages Mars offers. He provides a comprehensive review of a system architecture required for a rocket and spaceship capable of transporting people and supplies to Mars, comparing possible vehicle designs and performance features. A major challenge facing engineers and scientists at present and discussed in the article is the need to improve the cost per ton of transporting materials to Mars by 5 million percent. “In my view, publishing this paper provides not only an opportunity for the spacefaring community to read the SpaceX vision in print with all the charts in context, but also serves as a valuable archival reference for future studies and planning. My goal is to make New Space the forum for publication of novel exploration concepts—particularly those that suggest an entrepreneurial path for humans traveling to deep space,” says Editor-in-Chief Scott Hubbard, Stanford University. Click here for the full article (Available free until July 5, 2017)

From ROOM  ROOM is an open forum for comment and opinion – and actively encourages contributions. To promote debate, discussion and inspiration we regularly publish commentaries and opinions by space leaders and those involved directly or indirectly in aerospace and space exploration. Here, Dr Michael Leggett analyses the possible effects of Britain leaving the EU (‘Brexit’) on the long-established cooperation of the UK and Europe in space. “We are leaving the European Union not Europe”, an often-repeated phrase since the UK Referendum of 23 June 2016, and one which might offer some comfort to those who are participants in organisations outside the European Union (EU), including the European Space Agency (ESA). However, the distinction between the EU and intergovernmental organisations such as ESA is not always clear cut and the way ahead might not necessarily be plain sailing. ESA is not part of the EU; it has 22 member states, not all of which are EU members. Norway and Switzerland are members of ESA, for example, but not members of the EU. Furthermore, the EU currently has 28 members (including the UK), not all of which are members of ESA. On the face of it, Brexit should not directly affect the UK’s membership of ESA. However, there might be indirect effects as a consequence of ESA-EU programmes and depending on the final nature of Brexit. The EU itself is a major contributor to ESA, principally for the Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS), which began operations in December 2016, and the Copernicus Earth observation programmes. Funded and owned by the EU, ESA acts as design and procurement agent for Galileo on behalf of the European Commission. Copernicus is also led by the EU. Continued….. For full article click here

From New Atlas Germany isn’t exactly famous for its sunshine, so to help with the country’s commitment to investigating renewable energy, the German Space Center(DLR) has constructed the world’s largest artificial Sun. Making its public debut today in Jülich, North Rhine-Westphalia, the three-storey “Synlight” electrically-powered sun lamp will be used for various research projects, including developing processes for producing hydrogen fuel using sunlight. The Sun is one of the greatest potential energy sources available, but developing new technologies to exploit this potential can be hampered because our parent star is a very finicky worker. It refuses to work at night, dislikes cloudy days, doesn’t do as well at higher latitudes, and in some parts of the world it disappears entirely for months at a time. To provide a more reliable and controllable substitute, scientists and engineers have built their own artificial Sun for laboratory work. Instead of using a giant ball of fusing gas 93 million miles away, DLR has built a huge device that works like a backwards parabolic reflector. Read the full article here

The Cassini spacecraft recently flew between the rings of Saturn and the planet itself, a daring trajectory chosen to conclude a unique exploration mission. To find out what that orbit means, and to look back at some of Cassini-Huygens finest moments, we met up with key members of the science team in the UK for this edition of Space. Watch the video On Youtube On The ESA Website

This year of 2017, we celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Sputnik. It inspired and continues to inspire men and women around the world to reach to the stars and to achieve great things. A Toy Sputnik for the Christmas Tree I was 5 years old in 1957 and for Christmas I received from my father and mother a toy sputnik with Santa Claus inside to put on the Christmas tree. When I was 10 in 1962, my father, one of the pioneers of space and telecommunications working on the Apollo Mission and doing the rst US government and private satellites, came to my class. He told us that “one day we will have satellites for communications, for entertainment, for education and when we have wars, we will have wars with satellites and peace on earth”. Democratisation of Space I was hooked. From that day on and still today, I have had the privilege to found or co-found a number of satellite ventures — be they SES, Loral Teleport Europe, Europe Online, and Iridium (the only company where I was actually employed!) during the 1980’s and 1990’s and then today in the 21st century to be involved in such ventures as OWNSAT/Kaci c, NorthStar, Laser Light, Planetary Resources, and Aura, all privately nanced commercial initiatives helping bring about the “Golden Era of Space”. All of these projects brought or are bringing about a democratisation of access to space and will continue to do so for decades to come. Today, the world has never needed so much connectivity, so much interactivity, so much interconnectivity. The fossil fuel of the 19th and 20th centuries is being replaced by “bandwidth”, the engine that is driving the Digital Era and Big Data. Satellites provide immediate infrastructure and thus are the ideal solution to connect our people, our planet, and our universe. Personal Communication Satellites In 1997, I did a “Blue Skies” concept for Hughes Satellites. I called it PCS, “Personal Communication Satellites”. It was a wink at the “PCN’s”, the mobile Personal Communication Networks that were sweeping the world at the time. The cells were smaller, the phones were smaller, thus enabling what all hoped would be universal access to to mobile telecommunications. My idea of course was that “every(wo)man” would have their own satellite that would provide them with their own complete communications network. Being a satellite manufacturer, Hughes loved the idea but felt it was too advanced for them at the time. Today, 20 years later, kids are going to Space Camps and building their own satellites and launchers. Amateur Radio Operators and Universities who used to launch experimental satellites called “Nano Sats” and now “Cube Sats” and “Pico Sats” are realising that these ‘“research” projects can be revenue generating companies providing Big Data to countries, organisations, companies and institutes eager to understand not only our earth, but our planet and our universe. Companies such as Planet (formerly Planet Labs) are putting mobile phones into Cube Sats and taking pictures of the earth, turning a fun experiment amongst 20 year-olds into a 140 million USD company. Developments in Material Sciences on the ground As in the past, developments in material sciences are a ecting the way satellites and launchers can be used more e ciently, more e ectively, and more economically. In 1983, when we rst started SES Astra, today the world’s pre-eminent satellite company, governments and their large publicly owned monopoly telcos and industrial companies invested billions into high- powered satellites with 250 Watt TWT’s (Traveling Wave Tubes) to beam television signals directly into 60 cm dishes. We had been following the developments with gallium arsenide LNB’s (Low Noise Block Down Convertors) for the satellite dish outdoor electronics. These new LNB’s permitted 60 cm dishes to receive signals from the existing “o the shelf” satellites with TWT’s of 25 Watts, thus creating a disruptive competitive advantage of 10:1 in price, technology, and risk aversion. The end of that story? All of the “High-Powered Satellites” failed and literally burned out. SES Astra, with its “conventional o – the-shelf” satellites but using new receiving equipment went on to become Europe’s and then the world’s pre-eminent satellite system. Today, “new” phased array antennas using meta-materials developed by a technology company called Kymeta are being used by such companies as One Web (the 777 satellite constellation being put up by a consortium made up of Qualcomm, Virgin Galactic, Airbus, and SoftBank) to enable not only xed but moving objects (cars, wearables) to connect and be connected. The innovation is not in the satellite constellation itself which is basically the 1992 (yes!) design that the low-earth orbit (LEO) Iridium system had used with 77 satellites. As in the case of Astra almost 35 years before, the innovation is in the ground equipment. Perhaps even more to the point “phased array” antennas have been around even longer than satellites themselves, but always su ered from being too expensive, cumbersome, and large to use. The meta material innovation of Kymeta has taken care of that and democratised not only the technology but access to bandwidth for all. Launchers The biggest impediment to the proliferation of using satellites for our connected universe has been the lack of launch vehicles commensurate with the size and type of satellites that have sprung up in the last 10 years. In the rst 40 years of space, the space launch market belonged to a few governments and their Space and Defence agencies, such as the USA and Russia. In the early 80’s Europe then came onto the scene with a beautiful e ort resulting in Ariane Space, one of the rst multi-national and private-public projects bringing a number of European countries and companies together creating a multi-functional launch pad in the jungles of French Guyana in Kourou. These launches from Kourou – where many of my Astra satellites were launched are among my favourite as the vibrant tropical colours of the night are brought into full splendour during the night launches. Japan,

Launching a contest to go on a space vacation is the stuff of Total Recall, but the first true iteration of it is coming out of Finland this year. The effort is backed by a consortium of companies that includes the aforementioned Axiom Space. Equal partners include “space media company” Cohu Experience, “new Space” and education company Edge of Space, and Finnish education company Fun Academy. The year-plus-long contest to recruit a new astronaut is itself a long-term test of brains, brawn and fortitude that begins with the release of a free-to-download app in the fall of 2017. After several months of open competition with brain games and challenges through the app, 130 semi-finalists will be invited for a two-week intensive course at a yet-to-be-chosen location. After that, 12 finalists will face off in a three-month-long battle to win the world’s first astronautical prize. The trip won’t be a vacation, as the winner — be he or she a scientist or not — will be trained to do experiments aboard the International Space Station. From there, one would presume the world is the winner’s oyster and a budding number of career opportunities will come their way. Full article here

Rewatch UK Space Tech Angels video on the programme presentation! This event was all about introducing Angel investors to UK Space Tech Angels programme and how they can really build their capacity as investors in this constantly growing industry. Interested? More info on UK Space Tech Angels and other Newable Private Investing programmes here.

NASA has released its 2017-2018 software catalog, which offers an extensive portfolio of software products for a wide variety of technical applications, all free of charge to the public, without any royalty or copyright fees. Available in both hard copy and online, this third edition of the publication has contributions from all the agency’s centers on data processing/storage, business systems, operations, propulsion and aeronautics. It includes many of the tools NASA uses to explore space and broaden our understanding of the universe. A number of software packages are being presented for release for the first time. Each catalog entry is accompanied with a plain language description of what it does. “The software catalog is our way of supporting the innovation economy by granting access to tools used by today’s top aerospace professionals to entrepreneurs, small businesses, academia and industry,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington. “Access to these software codes has the potential to generate tangible benefits that create American jobs, earn revenue and save lives.” NASA published the first edition of its software catalog in April 2014, becoming the first comprehensive listing of publicly available software to be compiled by a federal government agency — the largest creator of custom code. Since then, NASA has shared thousands of its software programs with students, industry, individuals and other government agencies. “Software has been a critical component of each of NASA’s mission successes and scientific discoveries. In fact, more than 30 percent of all reported NASA innovations are software,” said Dan Lockney, NASA’s Technology Transfer program executive. “We’re pleased to transfer these tools to other sectors and excited at the prospect of seeing them implemented in new and creative ways.” Some of the software available include codes for more advanced drones, and quieter aircraft. While access restrictions apply to some codes, NASA has automated and updated its software release process over the last two years to ensure that it is as quick, easy and straightforward as possible. The software catalog is a product of NASA’s Technology Transfer program, managed for the agency by STMD. The program ensures technologies developed for missions in exploration and discovery are broadly available to the public, maximizing the benefit to the nation. For a searchable PDF of the software catalog, please visit: http://software.nasa.gov To learn more about NASA’s Technology Transfer program, visit; http://technology.nasa.gov Article originally posted here.