As our urban spaces expand, how do we manage that growth in a sustainable way and keep the health and happiness of the growing population at the top of the agenda?

Last week, the Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) team were in beautiful Ljubljana, Slovenia for the annual Urban Future conference, on a mission to answer that very question. Keen to build on the success of last year’s event in Łódź, Poland, which marked the start of several ongoing collaborations with city authorities and organisations, the team headed to the capital of ESA’s newest member state to establish new connections and strengthen existing links. 

Following a reception in the Castle the previous evening, Rok Žnidaršič, the Deputy Mayor of Ljubljana, set out the vision for the city with a focus on clean air and open spaces to enhance life for both residents and visitors. Nick Appleyard, Head of the Applications and Solutions Department at ESA, also met with ESA’s National Delegation in Slovenia.

“It's great to take the opportunity while we're here in Ljubljana to build that relationship, because we work hand in hand with them to decide the priorities that they have for the development of the civilian economy and the use of space within it,” he said. “We discussed how we might start to move this forward, particularly through the ACCESS programme which includes the BASS team. We have plans to set up a business incubator here in Slovenia over the course of 2026, through which we can support start-up companies at the beginning of that journey, to build the digital services which make use of space and bring it to the citizens and into the economy.”

Pictured from left to right: Dr Kavitha Muthu (Smart Cities Lead for ESA BASS), Nick Appleyard (Head of Applications and Solutions Department at ESA), and Slovenian National Delegates Tanja Permozer and Sabina Koleša.

As part of the agenda at Urban Future, Mr Appleyard and the team hosted a Deep Talk session, discussing the concept of happy cities with entrepreneurs, start-ups and city representatives from all over Europe, and outlining the related funding opportunities available from BASS. When asked what represented happiness in an urban context, the group spoke of the importance of green spaces, social cohesion, safety, community, accessible culture, and clean and effective transportation options.  

During the Deep Talk session, Dr Bahaaeddin Alhaddad, Applications Engineer for ESA BASS, explained how space applications are already playing a big role in improving our cities. Using a wearable device, he went on to demonstrate how the integration of wearable technologies and space data could provide evidence of the relation between routes we take from A to B and our happiness quotient.

“The concept of Smart Cities was actually defined in 2010, but innovations using space technologies and data have been delivering change in our urban areas for many years,” said Dr Alhaddad. “From improved traffic flow and autonomous vehicles to digital twins for enhanced urban planning, water source mapping and air quality monitoring, space is driving change in our cities and the potential of these technologies is huge.” 

BASS supports business innovation with flexible funding opportunities, technical assistance and access to relevant networks across Europe. It has already invested more than €20M in city-related projects since 2010, more than half of which made commercial sales during the pilot stage. In 2023, BASS established the Smart and Green Cities Task Force, bringing together city authorities from across Europe and beyond to identify key challenges and support this innovation. 

“It has been great coming back to Urban Future, catching up with some of our Smart and Green City Task Force members and making new connections,” said Dr Kavitha Muthu, Smart Cities Lead for ESA BASS. “The event is as diverse as ever and our focus theme of Happy Cities is really gaining momentum. It has been a great opportunity to speak to stakeholders and showcase what BASS can contribute to the business ecosystem supporting and improving our cities.”

How does space technology relate to insurance? A European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and an ESA Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) team took the opportunity to connect the dots at Insurtech Insights, the largest gathering in Europe of insurance and technology innovators, and to showcase both the opportunities for space-based solutions in the insurance sector and the BASS funding available.

At the event in London, 18-19 March, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti delivered a keynote speech highlighting the approach to managing and understanding risk shared by the space and industry sectors – and the important two-way relationship they have.

The key message to event delegates was not only that insurers can significantly benefit from satellite data, but also that space itself offers interesting insurance opportunities.

"What exactly can an astronaut contribute to a conversation about insurance?”, asked Ms Cristoforetti.

"Space and insurance actually have quite a lot in common. Both identify, assess and try as best as possible to quantify risk,” she explained. "Astronauts are often portrayed as people who love danger. The reality is almost the opposite. Spaceflight is probably one of the most carefully risk-managed activities humans undertake.”

“As insurers I think it is safe to say you love data. And some of the most valuable data in the world is only available from the orbital perspective. When risk becomes more measurable, it becomes more insurable,” Ms Cristoforetti said.

Delivered objectively and continuously, the potential for space technology to add value for insurers is indeed broad, providing global, independently verifiable data that supports risk assessment before and after the event. The infrastructure is already there, and space-derived data is already being leveraged for example to detect drought stress far earlier than ground statistics can, and to design insurance products that trigger payouts based on objective requirement. 

It is in this context that, the BASS  team delivered a workshop on “Unlocking Space for Insurance with ESA: From Demand‑Driven Needs to Supply‑Side Innovation”, explaining to attendees – most of whom were new to using space-technology - how space-based solutions can support risk modelling, underwriting, event-monitoring and claim management, opening the door to new commercial opportunities for sustainable growth in these sectors.

"What we saw throughout the conference was a shift toward smarter, data‑driven risk solution-from satellite‑enabled parametric insurance that can trigger support exactly when people need it, to automated underwriting and new ways of insuring autonomous mobility,” said BASS Finance and Insurance Lead Ana Raposo. ”Together, these developments showed how innovation is not only closing protection gaps in sectors like agriculture, tourism, and energy, but also strengthening wider societal resilience as climate risks and technological change accelerate.”

Ms Cristoforetti concluded by emphasising the two-way relationship between the insurance and space sectors, challenging those in the audience to think about the significant new challenges – and opportunities – that are now presenting themselves in the space sector.

Citing examples such as the expanding commercial space economy, mega-constellations, commercial space stations, space-based computing and orbital manufacturing, Ms Cristoforetti said: “Just as space helps insurers understand the risk on Earth, the insurance industry has historically helped make the space industry possible – and it is going to be asked to do much more of that in the coming years.”