From 13 to 14 Feb 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) celebrated 20 years of fostering space innovation through its ESA Business Incubation Centres (BICs) network. ESA BIC Noordwijk incubatee Thomas Parry (Spherical Systems) won the Junior Entrepreneur Leader award. The event in Munich brought together entrepreneurs, space companies, investors and policymakers, with awards given for outstanding achievements among the network’s startups.
On the mornings of these two days in Munich, internal meetings were held at the ESA Commercialisation Gateway Network Meeting to discuss the milestones achieved over the last two decades and future plans.
Connecting strategy and network collaboration
At this unique network meeting, it was the first time with representation from not 1, not 2, but 3 ESA programmes. Representing Dutch space initiatives, the ESA BIC Noordwijk, ESA Technology Broker NL and – new for this year – ESA Phi-Lab NL teams were thrilled to take part in the ESA Network Meeting and to join the exchange of new ideas, best practices and new strategies.
The internal meeting was opened from Luca del Monte (ESA’s head of the Commercialisation Services Department), Philip Thomas (head of ESA’s ScaleUp Programme Division and Tobias Gotthardt (state secretary of Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and Member of the Bavarian State Parliament. Inspiring speeches that touched upon the importance of continued support in driving the future of space-based innovation. All speakers are pictured along with Niels Eldering (ESA’s head of Entrepreneurship & Business Incubation Services) and Thorsten Rudolph (CEO of AZO).
There were many fruitful discussions and sessions followed with ESA and the networks of ESA BICs, ESA Phi-Labs, ESA Technology Brokers and ESA Ambassadors. A clear takeaway from the event was the importance of all these growing networks working together and the powerful force of collaboration for expanding knowledge exchange to address global challenges. By strengthening the ecosystem, it is sought to align with plans of Member States and connect at a strategic level.
ESA BIC celebration and outstanding achievements
The highlight of the gathering in Munich was the celebratory evening focusing on 20 years of ESABIC celebration. This event was organised by AZO in association with ESA BIC Bavaria. Opening the proceedings was Dr Josef Aschbacher (ESA’s director general) welcomed guests saying: “ESA BICs have been key to Europe’s space innovation.”
“We start with space and go beyond it – using space technology we can tackle global challenges and bring innovative solutions on Earth while promoting inclusivity and sustainability. By providing local support at the beginning, we’ve helped startups to grow their ideas into ground-breaking solutions,” Dr Aschbacher continued. “This generates significant economic benefits like job creation and investment in space. We celebrate the hard work and dedication of all those involved in the ESA BIC programme, especially our startups. It motivates us to continue building on this strong foundation.”
The evening saw 2 entrepreneurs from the ESA BIC Noordwijk community take to the stage. First, Max Beaumont (Skytree) was in a panel about the first 20 years of growth and perspectives on the future. The significance of the ESA BICs and their startups within the larger context of the space industry was at the focus of discussions. As the evening drew to a close, awards were given for outstanding achievements among ESA BIC startups, presented by Géraldine Naja (ESA’s director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness). Thomas Parry (of Spherical Systems) won the Junior Entrepreneur Leader award. Huge congratulations to Thomas and all the winners (see listed here in the #20yearsESABIC LinkedIn group).
Thanks to Niels Eldering and all at ESA who were involved making this meeting such a success for the milestone celebration! & huge thanks go to the organisational team on the ground and everyone at ESA BIC Bavaria and the AZO organisers (Thorsten Rudolph and team).
Prepare your space business idea for lift off!
Find the ESA commercialisation programmes in the heart of the Dutch space ecosystem under one roof at SBIC Noordwijk.
