The SME Forum is an annual consultation process during which ESA invites Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) and their associations to share their views and provide feedback about topics which affect their work with ESA and in the space sector in general.

In 2026, the SME Forum will take place on 8-9 June (a separate registration at a later point in time will be required to attend this on-site event) at ESA/HQ (Paris, France). Participation in the one or both of the preparatory meetings is necessary to attend the SME Forum in June. Consolidated comments and reactions provided during the SME Forum will feed into the next ESA High Level Forum, as well as future considerations about the activities and policies of the Agency.

Preparatory meetings

To collect some first contributions and prepare the on-site SME Forum, ESA invites SMEs active in the space sector to contribute to the discussion by attending and actively engaging in a number of online preparatory meetings. These will take place on:

Tuesday, 21 April 2026 (online; 14:00 - 17:00 CET)
Thursday, 21 May 2026 (online; 14:00 - 17:00 CET)

Representatives of SMEs from ESA Member States, Associate States and Cooperating States are invited to participate in the process on behalf of their companies. The Agency encourages participation at management level (1 participant per company).

The main points highlighted during the preparatory meetings will be gathered and then serve as inputs to kick-off the SME Forum, presented by one or more SME representatives in June.

The consultation meetings are held to:

• have an open discussion about topics of concern to SMEs which can be debated at the SME Forum
• review key topics from the last SME Forum in 2025
• provide an opportunity to those who cannot attend the on-site event in Paris to share their views and provide feedback
• inform SMEs about current issues of relevance to industry, including CM25 outcomes