One of ESA’s many goals is the diffusion of space technology into the wider economy.
Companies which are members of an ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) or utilising our Transfer Technology Programme at the Technology Transfer and Patents Office can receive technical support from ESA. In support of these companies, ESA maintains teams specialising in every aspect of space technology.
The Technology Transfer and Patents Office can put firms in touch with any and all the required teams needed to provide technical support. This can include the technical officer who originally identified the relevant technology, or direct access to a technology’s inventor, usually its best ambassador. We can also organise access to ESA’s unrivalled suite of technical laboratories, to undertake related testing.
The requests mostly come from start-ups who are trying to integrate space technology into their commercial solutions, or else apply ‘spin-in’ technology to space – any player is welcome. Our role is to qualify the technical requirements expressed, and identify the experts in ESA or the technical infrastructure that can answer our partners’ needs.