From Engines to Orbit: ESA Awards the Innovators Shaping Europe’s Space Future

On 9 October 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) held the ESA Future Space Transportation Award Ceremony in Paris, bringing together around 150 in-person attendees and 200 more online. For the first time, all four key initiatives within the Space Transportation Ecosystem Programme were showcased at a single event: BEST!, THRUST!, FIRST!, and InSPoC (In-Space Proof of Concepts).  The event marked a significant milestone for ESA’s vision of Europe’s future space transportation, drawing innovators, industry leaders, and space technology experts from across the European space ecosystem.

Throughout the evening, participants celebrated innovative projects in space transportation with insightful presentations and discussions. Companies behind the most promising proposals presented their roadmaps, participated in roundtable discussions and answered further questions from the audience. The event and subsequent cocktail hour provided a unique networking opportunity, allowing for further collaboration among industry players. The awarded companies will now begin contract negotiations with ESA to further develop and test their solutions.

End-to-end space journey

The night celebrated more than just awards – it was a showcase of ESA’s vision for an interoperable and scalable European space transportation infrastructure. Toni Tolker-Nielsen, Director of Space Transportation at ESA, praised the programme: “It’s a great time to be Director of Space Transportation in ESA … We have a clear vision for the future ecosystem that has been elaborated upon with industry”.

The projects featured during the event represented each step of the space transportation journey.

It begins with THRUST!, which focuses on developing high-thrust staged combustion engines for reliable access to space. With its future reusable boosters, the team behind BEST! intends to make the journey more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly by allowing for repeated launches with the same vehicles.

InSPoC (In-Space Proof-of-Concepts) steps in for the follow-on part of the journey: after reaching a high parking orbit, the InSPoC-2 project will demonstrate in-orbit cryogenic storage and refilling capabilities for orbital propellant depots, allowing interoperable space tugs to carry out several missions over their lifetime. The proposals submitted to InSPoC-3 tackle the complexities of onboard and shared intelligence needed for these vehicles to operate smoothly.

Finally, the FIRST! team is derisking technology disruptors for the future Space Transportation ecosystem. This initiative focusing on Avionics and GNC supports multiple technological breakthroughs in domains such as power sources, space-based telemetry, Autonomous Flight Termination Systems, real-time optimal guidance or Time Sensitive Networking for future space transportation.

 

Whilst the competitive process is a key part of the programme, participants regularly collaborate to develop the best technology, often forming consortia to drive their implementation. “We believe we achieve our goals more efficiently and effectively when we collaborate across Europe”, said Jerome Breteau, head of Future Space Transportation Preparation at ESA. “FLPP fosters both cooperation and competition—what we call ‘coopetition’—to drive innovation forward”.

These partnerships will continue to shape the future of European space transportation as the selected companies derisk their technologies with ESA. “It’s no longer ESA specifying the work that needs to be done – it’s you, industry, preparing this future”, concluded Tolker-Nielsen. “I’m very happy that you are on this journey with us”.

This event is the first of a series of similar celebrations, scheduled to be held twice a year in April and October. The Space Transportation Ecosystem Programme continues to look for new ideas for the European community. For more information on the programme, including open competitions, calls for ideas and events, visit ESA’s Space Transportation website.

The Space Transportation Ecosystem Programme continues to look for new ideas for the European community. For more information on the programme, including open competitions, calls for ideas and events, visit ESA’s Space Transportation website.

The following companies were recognised by ESA during the event for their submissions:

For further information on the Space Transportation ecosystem, visit the Space Transportation website by clicking on the button below.