Last month, the InnoSPACE Masters Final Event took place in Berlin, Germany, bringing visionary startups, SMEs, and established companies together with industry leaders and representatives from the organisers DLR, ESA, Airbus, Mercedes-Benz and OHB SE. With a focus on driving forward innovative solutions, the 2024 edition took on the inspiring theme, “Space up your life – Innovation for a smarter Earth and Space”.

The INNOSpace Masters is an international innovation competition organised by the German Space Agency DLR in cooperation with ESA, Airbus, Mercedes-Benz and OHB. The competition offers six different challenges and is open to companies of all sizes, startups, research institutions and universities, as well as individuals from all over the world.

This year's competition featured groundbreaking entries in the Business Applications Challenge “Space for every Industry” category, highlighting the most promising commercial applications of space technologies to benefit society for a sustainable future. The spotlight in the final event was on the top three winners in this challenge, each offering cutting-edge solutions with tangible real-world impact:

1st Place: Hula Earth, Biodiversity Monitoring with Satellites and LoT Sensors

2nd Place: TALOS GmbH, Harnessing Animals’ Intelligence from Space

3rd Place: Panda Insight, VitalFusion: Blending Health and Climate Data

These standout projects reflect the powerful role of space technology in fostering real-world impact and innovation across industries.

Hula Earth’s innovative approach to biodiversity monitoring captured the attention of the judging panel, securing them the top prize. Presented by Rita Rinaldo, ESA’s Head of Applications Projects & Studies Division, and Anke Freimuth, Programme Coordinator ESA-ARTES Business Applications, DLR, Hula Earth was recognised for its outstanding contributions in three main areas:

1. Market Potential: Hula Earth’s comprehensive biodiversity monitoring and impact assessment platform serves sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and infrastructure. With the global environmental monitoring market projected to double in value from €20 billion in 2020 to €40 billion by 2030, Hula Earth’s solution stands poised to capture significant market opportunities.
2. Innovation: Leveraging high-resolution satellite imagery integrated with IoT sensor data, Hula Earth delivers previously unavailable biodiversity data with unparalleled accuracy, real-time insights, and automated compliance reporting-all within a single, unified platform.
3. Environmental Impact: As a tool for natural resource management, Hula Earth empowers organisations to make environmentally responsible decisions, contributing to global sustainability.

Rita Rinaldo said, “These standout projects underscore how space technology can deliver transformative solutions across a broad-range of sectors, benefiting communities and industries on Earth.”

To seize the commercial potential of their ideas, the three winning projects will receive ESA support, including potential funding from ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme. In addition, the winners receive personalised support from members of the ESA BASS team and technical and commercial guidance.

The event also featured talks from high-profile speakers, highlighting the importance of technology transfer across space and non-space sectors. Geraldine Naja, ESA’s Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness delivered a keynote on Accelerating Commercialisation: Shaping Europe’s New Space Economy.

Building on this year’s success, the InnoSPACE Masters competition will open once again for more cutting-edge proposals on 15 January 2025. Innovators, startups, companies, research institutions and universities are encouraged to prepare transformative proposals that leverage New Space or space spin-offs and to seize this opportunity for funding and collaboration.

Stay updated on next year’s theme and application window and how your ideas could shape the future by visiting InnoSPACE Masters.