In his opening address, ESA’s Director General, Josef Aschbacher, said, “Advancing commercial space in Europe is one of the key components of Agenda 2025, which I set as an ambitious vision when I took over the position of ESA Director General.

“The fast-growing Earth observation sector has an abundance of possibilities that private businesses can capitalise on, from satellites and ground infrastructure through to value-added services that address real-world needs with information from space.”

ESA’s Director of Earth Observation, Simonetta Cheli, said, “The global Earth observation commercial sector is undergoing a rapid period of technological advancement, a diversification in service offerings, and industrial evolution. Despite this, it remains a niche and high-risk market within the broader space economy.

“That being said, the worldwide data market, which increased by 8% over the past five years to a value of almost $2 billion last year, is expected to grow by almost to $2.7 billion by 2031.”

Geraldine Naja, ESA’s Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement described ways in which ESA supports the growth in commercialisation of space based on the strong interplay between commercialisation and support to innovation, technological advancement, support to entrepreneurship and access to investment which are the foundations for developing commercialisation in Europe.

Relive the forum and watch the streaming replay, which has been cut into sections for easy viewing.