Space Summit for a Resilient Future

Occitanie has long been at the heart of European space history. Home to 40% of France’s space workforce and one-third of Europe’s jobs in the sector, the region is a leading hub that hosts major players in the space industry, such as the CNES Space Center, Airbus Defense and Space, and Thales Alenia Space, as well as a dynamic ecosystem of startups. Toulouse is also home to the Space Command and the NATO Center of Excellence, as well as initiatives such as the Space Climate Observatory (SCO). Occitanie also plays a key role in exploration programs, whether for lunar or Mars missions, as exemplified by the SuperCam instrument, designed in Occitanie and carried aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover.

To support this momentum, the Region, in collaboration with the French government, CNES, the French Space Agency, the Aerospace Valley global competitiveness cluster, and the Occitanie space industry association (Club Galaxie), adopted a €30 million space roadmap in late 2023 to accelerate innovation, support disruptive New Space companies, and strengthen its leadership in civil, defense, and security applications.

The Space Summit for a Resilient Future will highlight how space technology contributes to risk anticipation, natural disaster preparedness, crisis management and the strengthening of security and sovereignty in an increasingly unpredictable environment. Sustainability and innovation will also be addressed, not as isolated issues, but as drivers of resilience: ensuring responsible practices throughout the value chain and promoting new technologies and business models that enable the sector to adapt and remain competitive.

By placing resilience at the heart of the discussions, the summit goes beyond the traditional sectoral agenda. It will highlight how the space sector can provide concrete solutions to the pressing challenges affecting citizens, economies and the environment.