Introduction

In the Agenda 2025, commercialisation is identified as one of the top priorities for ESA to drive innovation and foster economic growth in the European industry. To enable the transition to a commercial space economy, ESA has established the Business in Space Growth Network  (BSGN) driving all critical activities needed to implement the Commercialisation Initiative in E3P.

Through BSGN, ESA is actively supporting the emergence of new economic markets across all E3P destinations by implementing activities across three domains:

  • Commercial Services: Supporting the development of new commercial services meeting ESA and commercial needs
  • Demand Stimulation: Stimulating demand by intensifying collaboration with terrestrial industries, demonstrating commercial use cases.
  • Private Investments: Enabling private investments in commercial services and actors developing use case in R&D for space.

The long-term aim is to foster the creation of a Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Lunar and (in the longer-term) Mars Economy that delivers benefits from utilising its space infrastructures for new use cases and Earth applications. Such an economy will include new space service providers and innovative business cases.

Cumulative summary of key achievements 

€77M non-ESA investments

As of today, € 77 million non-ESA investments in development of commercial services have been secured, demonstrating the potential of private investments alongside ESA funding.

€30M in Commercial Services Contracts

Significant demand has resulted in commercial service contracts signed by non-ESA users worth over € 30 million, with a commitment of € 8.5 million only in the reporting period.

14 ISS Commercial Activities

Total 14 commercial activities on ISS have been completed, with 8 new activities during the reporting period.

3 Commercially Enabled ISS Activities

3 ESA ISS activities have been enabled by commercial services of which 1 was completed during the reporting period.

45 Organisations Involved

More than 45 different organisations have been involved through collaborations, execution, or development of future activities together with BSGN Commercial Partners.

4 New Partner Proposals

Throughout the reporting period, 4 new proposals have been submitted to the permanently open Call for Commercial Partnerships

8 New Commercial Proposals

Interest in utilizing commercial services remains high, with 8 proposals received for utilizing commercial services in the reporting period.

36 Open Call Applicants

The Call for ideas and user cases for Lunar Communication and Navigation Services received 36 applicants of which 8 where shortlisted by ESA and invited to continue development

Commercial activities completed in 2022

Commercial partners have with support from BSGN successfully executed several commercial activities in the reporting period of 2022 including:

'Kirara-3'

High-quality protein crystallisation in the ISS
(JP plus PIs from FR, HU, ES, US)

‘SpaceOMIX’ Maleth I

Analysis of the Skin Microbiome of Diabetic Foot Ulcers in the ISS
(MT)

Maleth I Cube, 2021

‘SpaceOMIX’ Maleth II

Follow-up mission to validate findings of Maleth I
(MT)

‘AI-Box’ by SpaceApps

Supporting the performance of a wide range of activities onboard the ISS
(BE)

‘Media-Set’ assembly by SpaceApps 

Real-time communication with ISS for commercial players
(BE)

‘SPIC#1’ and #2 by SpacePharma

Human health and pharmaceutical research
(CH)

‘Code4Space’ by Roberta Initiative

Primary school competition to send experiment to ISS
(DE)

Find partners to take your own future project to space here or read more on how to become a commercial service provider with support from ESA via this link. 

Launch of the BSGN Industry Accelerators

To support the development of new space-enabled applications of commercial services, ESA has launched the BSGN Industry Accelerators together with industry partners.

The Industry Accelerators offers opportunities for industry actors to get funding and support to develop and implement their ideas on how to leverage space in their industry. Each accelerator also acts as an access point for entities looking to invest in projects to participate in the growth of the space economy. This way, the accelerators create a marketplace, where matching can occur between users, commercial service providers and investors.

During the autumn of 2022, the first calls for ideas of new projects to three accelerators are opening:

  • BSGN Industry Accelerator for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, run by a consortium of six European companies and led by the Satellite Applications Catapult (UK).
  • BSGN Industry Accelerator for Agriculture & Food, run by a consortium of three European companies and led by the Space Cooperative Europe (DE).
  • BSGN Industry Accelerator for Life Sciences, run by MEDES and France Biotech with support from CNES (FR).

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Matchmaking

Assemble the right team and selection of implementation partners to make your mission a success. Use our search and filters to identify and contact partners.

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Reach out

ESA ESTEC

The BSGN is based at the European Space Technology Research Center (ESTEC), in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, ESTEC is the largest ESA site, where most ESA projects are born and where they are guided through the various phases of development.

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