Industry, Innovation, Finance & Workforce

Industrial capacity, financial markets, talent and skilled workforces provide the foundations for a competitive space ecosystem required to innovate and to manufacture the space infrastructures and to provide the services needed to fulfil the missions and purposes of space for Green and Sustainability, Security and Defence, and Exploration and Science.

The digital economy, including space data and services is becoming a critical component of national and European transformation. Space solutions need to be integrated into digital business models, and the space industry needs to participate in the digital industry ecosystem.

In this context, a growing European internal market, both institutional and commercial is required to grow and maintain the European space industry and to avoid dependence on foreign markets, finance, acquisition and brain drain.

This research theme includes:

• A competitive space industry, embracing digital strategies including the EU Digital Agenda, which all space powers have already integrated, as part of their security and defence strategies.
• Public-private partnerships stimulating entrepreneurial dynamics and the sharing of risks and benefits.
• Innovative finance, including and beyond venture capital, scalable to support the full growth of new enterprises.
• Intellectual property rights, which protect the institutional users, owner or operator of space solutions as well as provide rights to industry and business to rely on for commercial benefit.
• Open data and open-source policies which allow for scientific progress as well as business developments.
• Innovation that is independent and outside of the procurement of space solutions.

ESPI will support the reinforcement of these foundations, considering:

• The integration of space in market-driven digital policies and strategies.
• Leveraging already highly commercial demand-driven space markets, in particular addressing the uptake of future connectivity standards (e.g. 6G and beyond, IoT) and digital markets (e.g. AI, Quantum).
• A balance between the influence of corporate strategies and public policies, ensuring the independence of policy advice and policy making.
• Development of emerging markets, in particular Earth observation, with high growth perspectives, and markets which may be enabled by future heavy launchers and in-orbit transportation.
• Innovative finance, including green finance, from insurances and pension funds.
• Synergies between downstream service developments and required upstream investments into space infrastructures.
• Support for eco-systems of innovation in academia and research institutions to enlarge the choice of solutions available for space procurements.