ESA Business Applications offers funding and support to businesses from any sector who intend to use space (satellite navigation, earth observation, satellite telecommunication, space weather, space technologies) to develop new commercial services.
Applications are open all year. Businesses can submit a proposal at any time through the Call for Proposals for Downstream Applications or can apply to a Competitive Tender or a non-competitive Thematic Call for Proposals.
Kick-start Activities
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Call for Proposals (Non-Competitive) Opening date: 20 November 2023 Closing date: 26 January 2024
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) is a vitally important consideration in modern society, as it promotes fairness and equal opportunity. It ensures that everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability, age or any other characteristic, is treated with dignity and respect and can reach their full potential.
Space for a Wasteless Food Supply Chain
Call for Proposals (Competitive) Opening date: 02 November 2023 Closing date: 01 February 2024
This opportunity provides funding to European teams who would like to develop a service related to halving waste through the food supply chain. Funding will be provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) for 6-month projects called ‘Kick-Starts’, which can lead to larger scale Demonstration Projects and Feasibility Studies. Kick-Starts are 75% funded by ESA up to a maximum of €60K per contract. Proposed services must use satellite data or space-based technologies. Please see the ‘Authorisation of Funding’ section below to check whether your team is eligible for funding.
Direct Negotiation - Kick-Starts
Closing date: 31 December 2025
ESA’s OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR KICK-STARTS (BASS ARTES 4.0) is always open. This means that businesses from any sector can apply for Kick-Starts throughout the year.
Competitive Calls
Space for a Wasteless Food Supply Chain
Call for Proposals (Competitive) Opening date: 02-11-2023 Closing date: 01-02-2024
This opportunity provides funding to European teams who would like to develop a service related to halving waste through the food supply chain. Funding will be provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) for 6-month projects called ‘Kick-Starts’, which can lead to larger scale Demonstration Projects and Feasibility Studies. Kick-Starts are 75% funded by ESA up to a maximum of €60K per contract. Proposed services must use satellite data or space-based technologies. Please see the ‘Authorisation of Funding’ section below to check whether your team is eligible for funding.
Lunar Economy Applications
Open Competition Opening date: 02-10-2023 Closing date: 08-01-2024
International teams across the world forge plans to revisit the Moon. The European Space Agency ESA is elaborating how best to help this exploration. As part of Moonlight, European space companies are investigating how to put a constellation of telecommunication and navigation satellites around the Moon and offer lunar communication and navigation services. ESA is looking for business ideas that are enabled by such lunar communication and navigation services and that address relevant needs of downstream customers on the lunar surface and down on Earth.
Space for Climate Adaptation
Open Competition Opening date: 02-11-2023 Closing date: 12-12-2023
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, the number of climate-related disasters, such as flooding, drought and hurricanes, has increased fivefold over the last 50 years. Economic losses from a growing number of extreme climate-related events are rising. In the EU, these losses already average more than EUR 12 billion per year. As this trend is unfortunately expected to continue, there is an urgent need to prepare adaptation measures to counteract these events. Climate adaptation requires both individuals and economies to adjust to events brought on by environmental change and to prepare for future developments. Climate adaptation requires collaboration and mutual exchange between private and public stakeholders, ideally across different countries, as actions are more effective if they are systematic and across all sectors of the economy. In this context, space assets have a key role to play in improving the resilience of society and economies in the face of climate-related natural disasters. Satellite communication technologies are crucial for supporting communication and data transfer at anytime and anywhere. Earth Observation data is necessary to monitor the environment and the weather, and how these evolve and influence each other. Satellite positioning data is crucial to providing accurate information about placement and timing.
Non-Competitive Thematic Calls for Proposals
Cybersecurity as Enabler for Secure Satellite Communications and Resilient Applications
Call for Proposals (Non-Competitive)
In an increasingly digital word, security and privacy concerns are becoming a growing priority focus for institutions, consumers and businesses. Satellite communications’ dependence on digital technologies, together with the growing use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, has led to the extension of the attack surface throughout satellites’ lifecycles. In order to sustain competitive advantage over the coming decade, satellite communications need to adopt innovative security technologies and state-of-the-art, security-by-design processes.
The Sustainable Transformation of Agriculture Through Digitalisation and Space
Call for Proposals (Non-Competitive)
In recent decades, combining technology with traditional agriculture has been widely adopted, delivering solutions that have hugely improved the lives of farmers and their business prospects. Countries across Europe are increasingly implementing policies and strategies that enhance the sustainability of agricultural production and, in most cases, these recognise the added value offered by digitalisation and related technologies. However, although modern agriculture is being adopted across Europe, much of the agri-food community still follows traditional methods. Increased investment in agricultural technology and innovation is required to achieve sustainable economic growth in these challenging times, where a number of factors are impacting heavily on the agri-food sector, such as climate change, thinning of natural resources, extreme weather events, a fragmented food value chain, and increasing demand for food and other agricultural products.
Thematic call for 'Space for Infrastructure': Energy
Call for Proposals (Non-Competitive)
This call is part of the umbrella of “Space for Infrastructure” thematic call for proposals.
The second thematic area, Energy infrastructure, refers to the physical structures and networks that are used to transport and store energy. This includes:
- Power plants
- Transmission lines
- Pipelines
- Energy storage facilities
- Other related infrastructure.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Call for Proposals (Non-Competitive)
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) is a vitally important consideration in modern society, as it promotes fairness and equal opportunity. It ensures that everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability, age or any other characteristic, is treated with dignity and respect and can reach their full potential.