The European Space Agency’s programme for future space transportation, FLPP, has launched a new campaign under its FIRST! initiative (Future Innovation Research in Space Transportation). This campaign focuses on simulation and intelligence — two areas with strong potential to transform space transportation vehicles.

A call for ideas is now open on OSIP, ESA’s Open Space Innovation Platform, inviting disruptive technologies and system studies in the fields of intelligence software, as well as emerging Artificial Intelligence and data enabled capabilities.

This campaign supports ESA’s transformation objectives by accelerating the identification, selection, and derisking of disruptive technologies. The aim is to enable faster prototyping and early testing, helping commercially relevant solutions mature more quickly.

Technology areas

Ideas are welcome in four areas:

1. Data-driven Design & Simulation for Space Transportation: Technologies that leverage novel data-driven methods to support the design, definition, simulation and de-risking of new space transportation systems and associated processes.
2. Smart Manufacturing & Testing for Space Transportation: Technologies that leverage the latest digital technologies to improve the efficiency and capability to manufacture and test space transportation components, sub-systems and systems (e.g. Industry 4.0).
3. On-board & Embodied Intelligence for Space Transportation: Technologies that leverage or support on-board decision-making (OBDM) to improve the autonomy and intelligence of space transportation systems during its operational phase.
4. Other Technology Disruptors in the field of Simulation and Intelligence: Technologies that are in keeping with the theme of FIRST! Simulation & Intelligence but do not fit into the aforementioned categories.

Who can participate

Technology providers with disruptive ideas in the above fields, space transportation service providers, and investors seeking promising advancements are encouraged to submit their ideas.

Next Steps

Following the Call for Ideas, a pitch day event will showcase selected proposals and provide opportunities with technology providers, space transportation service providers, investors, and ESA experts.

This will be followed by an ESA Invitation to Tender (ITT) for maturation activities related to the most promising technologies.

Participants are welcome to join either at the Call for Ideas stage or at the ITT stage.

We look forward to hearing from you — and welcome to FIRST!