ESA Technology

🚀 SMART‑IND! launches with strong momentum and record engagement On 15-16 April, the European Space Agency - ESA successfully kicked off the SMART‑IND! Industrialisation & Serialisation campaign with a highly dynamic Pitch Event. ✅ 130+ pitches ✅ Contributions from Large System Integrators, companies, new ventures and investors ✅ Strong collaboration across ESA programmes, ESA Technology and external stakeholders ✅ Focus on AI, Additive Manufacturing, Digitalisation ✅ Enabling serialisation and high‑production volumes ✅ Targeting massive reductions in cost and production time 👏 A big thank you to the Pitch Chairs Elisabetta Lamboglia, Ph.D., Michael Mallon, Wafaa TABIBI, and Nicoletta Wagner for her leadership and vision. 👉 Stay tuned for the upcoming M-IND campaign, focused on mid‑size LEO satellites: https://lnkd.in/dvTKXCJs #industrialisation

📣 The 4S Symposium 2026 lineup is here! And it’s shaping to be one of the strongest editions yet. The European Space Agency - ESA invites you to the 4S Symposium -Small Satellites Systems and Services 2026, Europe’s leading small satellite forum 🛰️ 📅 4-8 May 2026 📍 Forte Village, Sardinia, Italy 🔗 Full programme and registration: https://lnkd.in/ebCnaKFE 🌌 2026 Theme: Swarming the Skies, Soaring Beyond: from VLEO to Deep Space Monday morning opening speeches: Dietmar Pilz, ESA Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality “ESA In-Orbit Technology Demonstration with Small Satellites” Géraldine Constant Filaire, Advanced Studies Department Manager, Centre National d'Études Spatiales “CNES Small Sat Programmes for Innovation and Demonstration” Mario Cosmo, Director of Science & Innovation, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana “Big Science with Small Sats” Plenary keynote speakers: 🎤 Gurpartap "GP" Sandhoo – Director, Space Development Agency 🎤 Caleb Adams – Distributed Systems Lead, NASA Ames Research Center 🎤 Ian Carnelli – Hera Project Manager & Head of Systems Department, ESA 🎤 Damien Galano – Proba-3 Project Manager, ESA 💬 Join our interactive roundtables: • Space Transportation (moderated by CNES and ESA) • Services & Investments (moderated by ESA and European Commission) • CubeSats See you in Sardinia! #4S2026 #SmallSatellites #SpaceTech #SwarmMissions #ESA #CNES

Progress is firing up on ESA Technology's #Henon mission 🚀   A look behind the scenes at the European Space Agency - ESA's Propulsion laboratory where you can see the ion beam on Henon’s miniature gridded ion thruster steered by its thruster pointing mechanism.  This coupling test is vital for showing how compatible these two items are when the thruster is firing. Ultimately, the test demonstrates that the engine is robust enough for Henon’s long journey operating as ESA’s first stand-alone CubeSat in deep space, where this thruster is expected to run, and run well, for thousands of hours.  The pointing mechanism allows the thruster angle to be changed to compensate for any differences between the direction Henon is being thrust in and the spacecraft’s centre-of-mass, saving fuel and minimising the effect from solar radiation pressure. This gridded ion thruster and its mechanism is just one of the many projects funded through ESA’s General Support Technology Programme (#GSTP) which develops and demonstrates how new technologies can be the driving force for advancements that impact our lives. It represents a significant step forward in miniaturised electric propulsion, enabling high-efficiency thrust over a long lifetime within the tight constraints of a CubeSat platform.  Next in the test sequence, the Henon team will integrate the Power Processing Unit Engineering Model (PPU EM) into the test setup, marking an important step towards de-risking the intra-compatibility of the full propulsion subsystem configuration and bringing us closer to in-orbit demonstration. This gridded ion engine was originally developed by TransMIT GmbH and is now going through industrialisation by Mars Space Ltd. The thruster pointing mechanism is developed by AVS Added Value Solutions, and the Power Processing Unit is developed by Techline Systems. ARGOTEC | Agenzia Spaziale Italiana | SpaceDyS s.r.l. | INAF Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica | Università degli Studi di Firenze | UK Space Agency Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eCVHZiEN

It's good to communicate so register to join open discussions online with European Space Agency - ESA and give your feedback and share your concerns as an SME working in the space industry.   Two preparatory SME Forums on 21 April and 21 May 2026 will form the basis of debates in June at ESA Headquarters in Paris. To join in June you should at least join one of these online sessions.   📆 : 21 April & 21 May (online), 8-9 June 2026 (in Paris) 🖊️ Register at https://lnkd.in/eYVygsnn   More information 👇 https://lnkd.in/dYxMSTv8

ESA’s Space Safety programme – tasked with protecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit – is expanding rapidly. Find out how your company could work with us at our Space Safety Industry Day 2026, taking place at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands on 16 June. Space Safety was among the biggest successes at last November’s ESA Ministerial Council, receiving even more money from Member States than requested. We are developing multiple missions and programmes to secure the resilience and sustainability of Europe's space systems, and the safety of people and property on the ground – but need the help of European industry. Join us at our Industry Day to learn about the business opportunities emerging across all supply chain levels from our activities, including our exciting new Cornerstone missions. For more information, including how to register, click here – closing date 1 May: https://lnkd.in/eWKCM9ZG   

On 8 April, teams from the European Space Agency - ESA and industry partners gathered at ESA’s Navigation Lab at ESTEC, the agency’s technical heart, to receive the very first navigation signal from the Celeste mission. This marks the first successful transmission of a navigation signal from a European satellite in low Earth orbit. Congratulations, ESA Navigation! 👏 Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/dAq8icMc GMV in Space | Thales Alenia Space

A great success for ESA Exploration! 👏   At ESA Technology, we are proud to have enabled #Artemis II with the European Service Module (ESM) – the powerhouse of the mission’s Orion spacecraft, providing life support for the astronauts, thermal control, generating electrical power with its four solar arrays, and propelling Orion through deep space with its 33 engines. 🌒🚀   Built by European industry led by ESA, the ESM was assembled by Airbus Defence and Space in Bremen, with contributions across 13 European countries involving 20 main contractors and over 100 European suppliers!   ESA engineers made the mission possible with their expertise, and continued to monitor it 24/7 from the ‘Eagle room’ at ESTEC, ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands.   Thank you for the shout-out, Reid Wiseman! 😉

The first Proba-3 science is in!   ☀️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️ Close to the Sun, it spotted solar wind moving 3–4 times faster than expected. Proba-3 can see the Sun's outer atmosphere (the corona) in high resolution, closer to the Sun's surface than other space-based coronagraphs. It takes 1–2 images per minute, allowing scientists to closely track material moving close to the Sun: the birth of space weather! Curious? 👉 https://lnkd.in/eE9sD2dn In the last year, the 2-spacecraft mission has  ☀️⚫️🛰️ made 57 artificial solar eclipses  📹 recorded >250 hrs of videos of the Sun’s inner corona ☀️🌑🌍 equivalent to 5000 total solar eclipse campaigns on Earth!  Are you a scientist and want to dive into the data yourself? You can find it here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e7iddfT2   Royal Observatory of Belgium, ESA Technology

Registration for the upcoming European Space Agency - ESA Industry Space Days 2026 (ISD) is now officially open. Held every two years, the ISD brings together 2500 individuals from B2B clients, partners, ESA representatives, and key industry stakeholders for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and strategic networking. 📍Location: ESA ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands 📅Dates: 16-17 September 2026 ✒️Register: https://lnkd.in/eFXwVNK6 The event offers a unique opportunity to: - Engage directly with ESA and industry representatives - Build and strengthen relationships with B2B clients and partners - Network with decision‑makers, innovators, and technical experts across the space ecosystem - Present products, services, and capabilities to a highly relevant audience #ISD2026ESA

🛰️ Attached to the top of a floating platform at the European Space Agency - ESA’s Orbital Robotics Laboratory is an essential part of the upcoming CubeSpec mission, a tiny satellite developed by KU Leuven that will become the first CubeSat to carry out high spectral resolution spectroscopy of visible light. These measurements help scientists study the internal structure of stars, and obtaining them will make CubeSpec ESA’s first astronomy CubeSat ✨ To take the measurements, the tiny spacecraft will carry a telescope, which will need to remain pointed at a target star with extreme accuracy. For this, it carries a High-Precision Pointing platform (HPPP) 🔭 Read more about the HPPP and Leonardo Peri, the researcher testing it, here: https://lnkd.in/dhRKNhcu