ESA’s Director General, Josef Aschbacher, noted, “The further development of space and the assertion of its capabilities in industrial value creation, as well as the new emphasis on space commercialisation and the New Space approach, can become an important differentiator for European space, and bring significant competitive advantages to Europe’s industry and economy.”

Ulrich Hermann, CEO and General Partner of Einstein Industries Ventures, commented, “NewSpace companies from the US and China are already starting to integrate their services into one of Europe’s core domains being our industrial value chain.” He added, “Industrial companies across all sectors, such as agriculture, manufacturing, automotive, energy, insurance, finance and logistics, should engage in fostering a European New Space ecosystem – by the way, such being a remarkable growth opportunity – otherwise Europe will face dependency on service and product providers outside our joint economic area in the upcoming IoT [Internet of Things] era.”

This partnership with Einstein Industries Ventures complements ESA’s space commercialisation strategy and the European Commission's Cassini initiative to promote entrepreneurship in space, in collaboration with the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund.

The collaboration agreement was signed by Josef Aschbacher and Ulrich Hermann, in the presence of Géraldine Naja, ESA Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement, at ESA Headquarters in Paris on 16 November 2022.