DREAM IT, MAKE IT, BOOST IT: ideation, creation and development of startups

In line with commitments signed in 2023 between the European Space Agency and Aerospace Valley, the ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) Sud has deployed actions in view of selecting some twenty companies per year and continuing to incubate around thirty companies, reinforcing the community of incubated companies and program alumni and expanding its regional presence through jointly organized events with and for local ecosystems.

The DISTRICT by Aerospace Valley has continued to expand with the arrival of new residents such as Oledcomm, Blue Water Intelligence, Dawn Aerospace, the Exploration Company, Pontos, and Aithra. In addition, it has signed new partnerships with local support organizations such as the “Lanceur d’Etoiles” incubation scheme, and the startup studio, “The Space Builder”, that originated in the CNES hive. This impressive company growth confirmed by significant crowdfunding for the ecosystems testifies to the program’s success. Notable examples include successful fundraising rounds for Constellation, AIKO, WALTR at the end of 2024, all of which are DISTRICT alumni.

BUILD IT, FUND IT, SELL IT: fostering meetings, project development, and access to funding, supporting economic development and exports

Twenty events were organized during the period for the Space Community at Forum Aerospace Valley, with the ecosystems of excellence and on topics related to investments or international and European activities. The Cluster took part in many events such as the Assises du New Space in June 2024 or the France pavilion at the International Aeronautics Conference (IAC) of Milan in September 2024. Theme based days and technical workshops marked 2024 and enabled to focus on essential projects for the space world, such as “Ondes et Space” (Waves and Space” day, d’IRIS² days the first “Aerospace Valley supplier day” with 2 main space stakeholders in Occitanie, Airbus Defence & Space (ADS) and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) with a strong mobilization of the ecosystem.

The cluster has continued to support project development. It has accredited many Space projects notably as part of France 2030 and in particular in the areas of orbit operations, space surveillance, waste management and data optimization, new launchers but also Factory 4.0 projects. The cluster has continued its work with the Regions on developing their respective roadmaps, through initiatives such as the Regional Innovation Strategy (SRI) of Occitanie. European projects in which Aerospace Valley is involved have enabled our members to apply for project funding in the areas of Data (EDIH OccitanIA) and climate change adaptation (PROTECT, VALORADA, Space4Cities, PCP WISE). The Cluster regularly informs members about regional, national and European funding opportunities through its monthly newsletter, “Financez vos projets (Funding your project)”. Webinars were organized on GSTP ESA (General Support Technology Programme) and on how to understand Horizon Europe projects. In its role as PCN Space (National Point of Contact for the Horizon Europe Space Program), Aerospace Valley also produced 4 webinars: Space in Horizon Europe Missions (12/04/24), EU SST of CNES calls for proposals (04/10/24), the ISOS initiative (10/01/25) and the Space Partnership (05/02/25). In December 2024, Aerospace Valley launched a call for expression of interest, "Space data applications" in collaboration with the CNES and the Agri Sud-Ouest, Pole Mer Méditerranée and DERBI competitiveness clusters. Ten proposals were received.

Aerospace Valley, through its two collective actions, NSF (NewSpace Factory) and SCALE (Space Climate League) has continued to work for SMEs to help them gain access to new national and export markets. NSF was present at international shows such as Space Tech in Breme in Germany in November 2024 and the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs in the United States in April 2025 (organization of a meeting with the Japanese delegation and the Italian delegation of Emilia Romagna) and it intends to expand in the coming months with new members. SCALE by Aerospace Valley (Space Climate League) now has five active members including a new member: BWI (Blue Water Intelligence) and took part in many events such as les Assises du New Space in June 2024 or Smart City Congress in November 2024 where SCALE was selected by several delegations to present its offering on the France stand. In March 2025, SCALE was present at the Americana show with notably two members (TCC and I-SEA). In June, SCALE took part in two conferences UNOC 25 in Nice and was present at the VIVATECH show in Paris. SCALE earned the SCO accreditation for its offering and also applied to SPACE4Cities.

We have also presented the offering to a Lithuanian delegation and a delegation from the Balearic islands.

SELECTED WEBINARS AND EVENTS

In May 2024, as part of the Forum by Aerospace Valley, a Space sequence was held with a round table including representatives from startups and major groups. Participants were able to discuss space applications and recruitment challenges in the space industry.

In June 2024, Aerospace Valley was present at the Assises du New Space with SCALE at its stand: start-ups were able to demonstrate their capabilities.

In September 2024 and in collaboration with the CNES, the Space team organized a webinar on in-orbit services to promote a CNES call for ideas and to encourage members to answer the call.

Also in September 2024, and in close collaboration with the CNES, the Space team organized the France pavilion at the IAC (International Aeronautics Congress) where 25 French space sector companies were showcased.

2024 marked the launch in March and June 2024 of the first “Supplier Days by Aerospace Valley”, respectively with Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia Space: 80 suppliers from the Cluster’s space ecosystem had the opportunity to network at the plenary session and at B2B meetings.

EUROPE FOCUS

Aerospace Valley has partnered with the SPACECITIES project (February 24-June 27) funded by Horizon Europe and supervised by EUSPA. Coordinated by the Forum Virium Helsinki innovation company, the project will fund the technological maturing of 20 solutions, including five demonstrators, using Copernicus and Galileo data and services to answer urban management issues expressed by several cities (Helsinki, Amsterdam, Gand, Guimarães, Athènes via the Attica region). In this project, Aerospace Valley will provide its technical and commercial expertise in space solutions and its expertise in managing calls for projects. It is the first PCP to simultaneously boost the Earth Observation and Navigation markets.