ESA Launches Call for Industrial Scaling Ideas

The European Space Agency is launching a new initiative to scale up Europe’s space industry. The goal is to strengthen industrial capacity and supply chains through increased industrialisation and serial production of satellites, subsystems and ground infrastructure.

Through the SMART-IND! and M-IND initiatives this will contribute to shorter development times, higher cost efficiency and increased European independence – particularly in the production of satellites for LEO constellations.

Call for Contributions

Concrete ideas are now being sought from system integrators, component suppliers and technology players who can contribute to scaling up production, standardising interfaces, automating manufacturing and testing processes, and strengthening robust European supply chains.

The first step is to submit a brief description of the idea via ESA’s Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP). Selected players will be invited to a pitch event in front of ESA experts and investors.

Next Steps

After that, there will be an opportunity to submit a full application within the respective programme, with access to co-financing and technical support. This is an opportunity for European players to take an active role in the transition to large-scale, competitive and strategically independent space production.