The European NewSpace Ecosystem
Context
I took some time this weekend to map some of the most exciting space startups and small to medium-sized enterprises in Europe. Although one gets the impression that the North American ecosystem continues to hog the limelight, the NewSpace ecosystem in Europe is slowly but surely growing. From small-lift launcher startups such as Isar Aerospace & Skyrora to satellite manufacturers such as Open Cosmos & SatRevolution, from satellite data providers such as SatelliteVu & UnseenLabs to startups extracting insights from satellite data such as LiveEO & SpaceSense.ai, Europe is filled with several players across the space value chain. This includes some up and coming startups in the so-called “In-Orbit Economy” such as Yuri, which makes access to microgravity simple & Interstellar Labs, which is building habitats for Earth that could be potentially used for living in space.
It started as a simple thought exercise - I was trying to map, in my head, all the space companies I know in Europe - but, soon I realised that it might be worth documenting it and making it available for folks who would like to know more about the European NewSpace ecosystem. Europe has a huge role to play in the space economy, as seen by the recent increase in budgets for the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC) - which is going to now create the European Union Agency for the Space Programme. If you are wondering what the roles of ESA and EC are concerning space in Europe and would like to understand how space is organised in Europe, do listen to my recent podcast episode.
Mapping the European NewSpace Ecosystem
Please note that the following ecosystem mapping is not exhaustive, and includes the United Kingdom (taking the continental definition of Europe). If you would like a detailed mapping of all companies or an in-depth analysis into a specific country or a particular segment, I will be happy to work on that. Nevertheless, my humble attempt should be comprehensive enough for discovering the NewSpace ecosystem in Europe. Please note this list includes companies that are HQ’d in Europe and not subsidiaries (that would be a very long list!), and those founded on or after 2005 (to correspond with the start of the so-called NewSpace era).
Questions or clarifications on this? Just hit reply, or reach out on my socials linked below. See you next time!
Edit (May 11): Added some names that I had missed in the first edition. I have received several messages from companies I had missed. So, I hope to publish an updated edition sometime soon.
If you want to connect, feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Cheers,
Aravind,
Founder, TerraWatch Space
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What about the established and emerging space surveillance and tracking and space situational awareness (SSA) companies? SSA is increasingly becoming a focus area to support the long term sustainability of space.