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Innovation, innovation, innovation – BASS conference celebrates the potential of space to transform our communities

 

All eyes were on space at Harwell this week, as more than 200 delegates from across Europe and beyond joined ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) conference “Towards a Space-Powered Economy”. The two-day event had a packed agenda with more than 50 speakers and a common ambition – to bring the added benefits of space to our businesses, economies and communities, and help mitigate the impact of climate change on our growing populations and natural environment.

With support from skilled ESA Technical Officers, the vast majority of BASS projects enjoy commercial success, and more than 50% generate sales before project completion. Those attending the conference had the opportunity to hear about a wide range of projects making use of satellite technologies and data in sustainable solutions to global challenges, as 20 companies from across Europe pitched their business concepts to a distinguished judging panel. With ideas ranging from movable bus stops to methane gas reduction, organic cotton monitoring to illegal logging prevention, competition was stiff and the judges had a difficult task. The winners, announced at the conference, were the UK’s Trade in Space, whose ORCAS project focuses on helping smallholders access global markets directly and has already protected and enhanced more than 1,000,000 family incomes. Second place went to Finland’s ICEYE’s disaster monitoring service with Italy’s i-EM in third for their OCTAGON project providing connected green energy solutions for the simulation and the management of smart grid components.

Day two opened with a flurry of distinguished speakers, starting with ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher who outlined the importance and potential of the space sector for world economies and emphasised the significant role played by commercialisation programmes such as BASS in ESA’s agenda. 

“The space economy is growing extremely fast and is expected to rise from 500bn EURO today to more the 1tn EURO in the next decade. ESA is supporting the development of space companies and looking to provide the right conditions and frameworks for them to grow, so this is an important event to help make this work” said Mr Aschbacher. “The UK is very engaged and a strong partner for ESA in the commercialisation of space.”

UK Minister Sir Chris Bryant MP joined on screen to share his ambitions for the sector and Geraldine Naja, Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness at ESA, echoed these sentiments and spoke of the significant contribution BASS and the wider commercialisation agenda is making to the green transition, and how sustainability is at the centre of the programme’s work.

“We have to be leading innovation and change in the space sector to ensure that our industry will be competitive” said Ms Naja. “You can see from today’s event that there is such wide participation in terms of entities represented, it is a great opportunity for networking, creating new partnerships and, eventually, creating new space applications and services.”

As is fitting for a space agency, there were a number of important launches to celebrate during the conference. Whilst the focus of the event was very much on future potential, it was also a chance to celebrate the important work carried out to date.  The new BASS Societal Dossier, unveiled at the event, analyses the impact of the 500 million Euro invested in more than 1,000 companies since 2010. Also newly published, the updated Green Dossier details how BASS projects are contributing to sustainability goals and the green transition across multiple sectors.

Over the two days of inspirational speakers and stimulating panel discussions, there was also plenty of opportunity for networking, forging new collaborations and strengthening existing partnerships. Two new Memoranda of Intent (MOI) were signed at the event, the first with Prototypes for Humanity, an initiative by the Art Dubai Group supporting the most promising innovations towards commercial viability through partnership with government, industry and potential investors. The second MOI was signed with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), outlining common objectives around improving sustainability and circularity in sport, protecting the environment and reducing emissions. The agreement originally signed between ESA and the UN’s CEO Water Mandate in 2023 moved to its next phase at the conference, with a joint commitment to build on the success of the Digitising Water Resilience initiative which has already generated a series of commercially successful projects helping to protect vital water resources around the world.

Reflecting on the event as the last buses departed, Nick Appleyard, Head of Space Solutions at ESA, said “At BASS we are committed to developing products and services because they are actually needed, not just because we have the technical capability to do so. Events such as these are vital as they bring all the parties together – entrepreneurs, investors, experts and end-users - and I am delighted to see so many important connections being made here this week. We are already looking forward to next year’s event; now it’s over to industry to bring us their ideas and to innovate.”

 

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