Highlights of ESA’s Industry Space Days 2024

This is a key event for most companies involved in space in Europe, they gain insights into ESA’s near and long-term activities and procurement needs. Thousands of one-on-one prescheduled meetings between companies will have marked the start of useful business collaborations and increased their chances in future ESA procurements and commercial activities.

An exhibition hall with 170 stands was a valuable way for companies to discover, discuss or showcase technologies and make useful contacts.

There were 2300 registered participants representing 1100 companies from 42 countries at ISD 2024. For many of these companies, this event is an essential part of their business strategy.

Key takeaways and special events

After a welcome from the head of ESTEC, Dietmar Pilz and the Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness, Géraldine Naja, ESA Director General, Josef Aschbacher and ESA directors spoke about ESA’s future goals and the opportunities for industry.

The Zero Debris Charter was signed by 23 companies and organisations committed to joining the European space industry’s own call-to-action to prevent and mitigate space debris. The new total of 87 signatures is set to rise on 14 October 2024 on the opening day of the International Astronautical Congress in Milan.

ESA presented three prestigious awards to companies successful in the Agency’s supplier evaluation process and innovation actions. Airbus Defence and Space (France) received the Excellence Award (prime contractor) and ASP Systems (Germany) received the Excellence Award (sub-contractor). KP Labs (Poland) received ESA’s Innovation Award.

Participant feedback

C-CORE, a small company based in Canada specialises in remote sensing and has attended the ISD event since its inception in 1999. Desmond Power, Vice President said: “ISD brings us to the heart of space business in Europe. We’ve had back-to-back business meetings at our booth today. It’s a very cost-effective way to meet with as many potential customers and business partners as possible.”

Vincent Bath, Key Account Manager at large system integrator, OHB Bremen explained that at the ISD, OHB makes direct contact with new and existing suppliers and discovers innovative technologies that can improve OHB’s competitiveness. OHB in turn offers small companies commercial opportunities and its experience in ensuring these innovative solutions are space compliant.

Start-up companies showcased their technologies in the ESA BIC Village and spoke about the benefits of ESA’s support through ISD 2024.

Country booths gathered dozens of companies from Member States and gave them an opportunity to present their activities. Elisabeth Klaffenboeck from the Austrian IPC delegation to ESA said: “One gets the feeling that the entire European space industry is here – a perfect opportunity for networking, so I am pleased that Austria is so well represented. Together with Brimatech, we were able to attract 20 players to our ‘Austria in Space’ booth on the first day already. We also see Austrian companies with their own stands. Amazing, a success on every level.”

Like many of his ESA colleagues, Optical and Quantum Innovation Engineer, Christopher Vasko was pleased to meet company representatives face-to-face in fruitful ad hoc meetings.

ISD in pictures

Photos from Day 1 of the event are in ESA’s ISD 2024 Flickr album. More photos via this link will be added soon. Spot your company and share your photos using the hashtag #ISD2024ESA.

Presentations

ISD2024 was a busy event. For those unable to attend all the presentations, a selection will be made available via a link here soon.

The next Industry Space Days is in 2026.