EDITORIAL

Dear members and partners,

Aerospace Valley, with its 860 members, is a privileged observer and player in the aeronautics, space and drone industries in the greater South-West. In this report, Aerospace Valley reviews its dynamic fiscal year. A key driver of innovation in the regions, the bi-regional competitiveness cluster is at the heart of today’s major challenges more than ever before. Let us review the situation of our sectors and a few milestones of the period:

• The aeronautics sector is emerging from the Covid crisis: global air transport has returned to its pre-crisis level, orders have recovered strongly on civil and military markets, the pace of production is increasing. There are many reasons to be optimistic about the future, while taking into account a context that remains very complex notably with procurement problems when it comes to raw materials and components, hiring challenges, inflation or rising energy costs. In terms of technological development and innovation, the major challenge of the energy transition and of decarbonizing air transport has spurred strong acceleration and collaboration actions within the ecosystem.
• The space sector with its new actors and new technologies is undergoing a profound transformation of its business models. To remain a leading player in space, Europe must adapt by ensuring that it has safe, independent access to space, at competitive prices. The current challenges for European launchers, with the shutdown of Soyouz and the Ariane 6 delays, puts Europe in a delicate situation. However, on the satellite sector, business is very brisk with perspectives for new constellation launches, and increasing needs in the area of earth observation and in the telecommunications field.
• The drone sector, smaller in volume, is very promising with significant growth prospects. Logistics, industry, agriculture, protection of the planet, but also urban air mobility: there are many markets. The challenge today is to move from niche markets to mass markets.

Against this background, Aerospace Valley has reported positive results for the period notably with:  

• The recruitment of 60 new members in one year, which brings the total to 860 member companies. We have exceeded the milestone of 600 SMEs, which is one of our core priorities.
• The return to in-person events (after two fiscal periods that were strongly restricted by the Covid crisis) has fostered quality networking. With more than 160 events during the period, and over 2800 B to B gatherings, these meetings are essential to cultivate and develop networks as well as to foster the development of new ideas. Let us note Forum by Aerospace Valley organized for the first time at the Casino in Biarritz in May 2022 which brought together over 500 decision makers in the ecosystem, the creation and success of Space, Defence and Drone Days, and the participation in over twenty national and international business shows and conventions.
• The launch of the France 2030 national program highlighted priorities for both the aeronautics and space sectors. In addition, the Cluster was strongly involved in opportunities offered by this program: monitoring and information about calls for tender, brainstorming and matchmaking sessions, project support and setup and  accreditation assistance.
• 2022 was an especially vibrant year for innovation and transformation projects: 128 projects were supported by the Cluster, 55 of which received 85 million euros in public aid from the two Regions, the French Government and Europe. Let us note here the significant results achieved by the MAELE initiative on light aviation and launched in November, 2020. Over the year, more than 350 companies participated, and twenty innovative initiatives were financed for a total of 17 million euros by the Regions. The MAELE community was thus fully prepared to seize the opportunities offered by France 2030 within the framework of the, “Produce low carbon aircraft in France” call for projects run by Bpifrance, with seven award winners out of 9 nationwide for a total of more than 40 million euros in financial aid in 2022.
• The Cluster confirmed its position as a leading player in running projects financed by the European Commission. The two projects launched in 2022: Sure 5.0 (Industrie 5.0) and Metastars (ASD sector) are an excellent example and enabled to financially support SMEs with their innovation processes. The Cluster’s Europe Unit, with its experts, works daily to support members with regard to European funding schemes.
• The Aerospace Valley Cluster was accredited in March 2023 by the Government for Phase 5 of the 2023-2026 competitiveness clusters. The new roadmap approved is based on critical areas for our industrial and academic members: innovation, industrial transformation, environmental transition, and preparation for the skills of the future.

We are heading for Phase 5 so that together we can design the future of our sectors!