Download the presentations given during the SME+Midcap Days on 25+26 April here (day 1 and day 2 SME programme). After a successful registration and log-in, the PDFs can be accessed via the tab "Resources" in the upper right corner of the page

Background

The first ESA SME and Midcap Days took place at ESA/ESTEC (Noordwijk, The Netherlands) on 25 – 26 April 2023.  

On Day 1, speakers from ESA Directorates presented the outcome of the Council Meeting at Ministerial Level 2022 for their programmes and emerging opportunities for industry.

Day 2 was devoted to the well-established annual SME and Midcap Fora led by the Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement. The two fora are industry consultation processes during which industry participants are invited to share their views and give feedback about topics which affect their companies’ work with ESA and in the space sector in general. For SMEs, the day started with a dedicated SME programme.

Programme

Tuesday, 25 April 2023

10:00 – 10:10 Welcome and Opening Géraldine Naja, ESA Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement

10:10 – 10:45 CM22: outcome and opportunities - TEC + Q&A Alessandro Rapisarda, Technology R&D Engineer, Directorate of Technology, Engineering & Quality

10:50 – 11:25 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Science + Q&A Frederic Safa, Head of the Future Missions Department, Directorate of Science

11:45 – 12:20 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Telecommunications & Integrated Applications + Q&A Dietmar Schmitt, Head of Technologies & Products Division, Directorate of Telecommunications & Integrated Applications

12:25 – 13:00 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Navigation + Q&A Philippe Michel, Head of the Strategy and Programme Department, Directorate of Navigation

14:00 – 14:35 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Earth Observation + Q&A Pier Bargellini, Copernicus Space Segment Programme Manager, Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes

14:40 – 15:15 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Space Safety & Operations + Q&A Holger Krag, Head of the Space Safety Programme Office, Directorate of Operations

15:35 – 16:10 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Human & Robotic Exploration + Q&A Eric Istasse, Data Exploitation & Utilisation Strategy Officer, Directorate of Human Spaceflight & Robotic Exploration

16:15 – 16:50 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Space Transportation + Q&A Giorgio Tumino, Chief Technical Advisor, Directorate of Space Transportation

16:55 – 17:30 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Commercialisation & Scale Up + Q&A Aude De Clercq, Head of the Technology Transfer & Patent Management Unit, Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry & Procurement

Wednesday, 26 April 2023

SME Programme

09:30 - 09:55 The study on the financial viability of SMEs in Europe's space industry: results and further research Hans Bracquené, SME4Space chairman

09:55 - 10:20 Status of the ESA Mission Classification Laurent Marchand, ESA Head of the Quality, Dependability and Product Assurance Support Division, Directorate of Technology, Engineering & Quality

10:20 - 10:30 Sharing Experiences with ESA - Lessons Learned from space SMEs Andrew Herd, Senior Knowledge Management Engineer, Directorate of Technology, Engineering & Quality

To provide access to SME+Midcap Days 2023 Day 1 and Day 2 SME programme resources.