Areas of work on technological bricks were identified with the ecosystems of excellence with a special focus on orbital space propulsion, optical communications, quantic technologies, embedded artificial intelligence, as well as space data management: cybersecurity, science and space exploration, factories of the future on Earth and in orbit, without forgetting the greening and sustainability of the space industry.

The Cluster accredited some 16 Space projects under the aegis of France 2030 which outlines the upcoming trends in the space sector with beyond mini and micro-launchers, a focus on operations in orbit, space surveillance, waste management and data optimization. Members were informed  on a monthly basis through a newsletter about funding opportunities for Space projects at the regional, national and European level. Seventeen new startups (HyprSpace, Spartan Space, Sylphaero, Stratoflight, Anyfields, Global Smart Rescue, LTU…) joined the new ESA BIC (Business Incubation Center) Sud France incubation program this year. Today 33 startups are in the incubation phase for a total of 104 alumni, 88% of whom are still active. For 2022, 90 jobs were supported and 23.5 M€ of fundraising (160M€ since 2013). Seven companies are accelerated or in soft landing (Pangea, Telnet, Reuniwatt, Globeo, Aiko, Look Up Space, Constellation) at the Space Avenue of the Aerospace Valley accelerator, the DISTRICT. The Cluster is also a partner with the Lanceurs d’étoiles initiative launched in July, 2022 which supports through a tailor-made program projects driven by researchers who are looking to move into entrepreneurship or young startups (seven as of today) such as TIDAV AERO and ALPHA IMPULSION.
 
 Aerospace Valley continues to work closely with the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), the Space Command (CDE) and especially with the Space Innovation Laboratory of the Space Command Armies (LISA) hosted at its premises in Toulouse. 

The Cluster continues to engage in actions to develop the use of space. Under the aegis of Booster Nova, Aerospace Valley is participating in COSPACE (a State-Industry advisory committee on Space), in the Governmental Satellite Applications Plan, the aim of which is to foster the appropriation of satellite applications by the administration, and in CNES initiatives in terms of mapping services. It should be noted that there are special actions related to the climate and the environment.

Aerospace Valley in collaboration with the CNES, under the aegis of the « Caroline Herschel » program, proposed events to foster theme-based meetings with the aim of encouraging the creation of new partnerships or the birth of projects such as les journées Copernicus Space4 ( (Space4Agri, Space4Ports, Space4Insurance, Space4Environment). The Cluster also organized Copernicus challenges to encourage the emergence of projects based on data produced by the Copernicus program serving the economy and civil society, in different fields such as energy, climate, the environment, finance, air quality, and risk management. Aerospace Valley is also a partner to European projects such as PROTECT and VALORADA on the common needs of public authorities in terms of innovative climate services.

La Newspace Factory (NSF), a collective action of the Cluster aimed at supporting the NewSpace market and stimulating the industrial sector which includes around ten talented SMEs was joined by a new member, ACTIA.  In addition it multiplied meetings with prime contractors, international delegations and its presence at foreign shows such as SpaceTech in Breme in Germany or the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs in the United States. A new Cluster-run collective action was launched at the start of 2023, the Space Climate League (SCALE), the aim of which is to support the commercial development of SMEs and startups offering climate services based on the use of space data. SCALE aims to distribute these services and to promote the use of space applications to mitigate climate change in order to facilitate its adoption by public and private players, and this, through awareness raising actions. Today, the initiative is financially supported by the ADEME and French Tech.

Aerospace Valley organized two leading hackathons during the period 2022-2023:

• DefinSpace: the 2nd edition of the Space Command hackathon (CDE) opened for the first time in Europe, offering its participants the opportunity to imagine, in 24 hours, solutions for tomorrow’s space defence. Operated by Aerospace Valley on behalf of the Space Command (CDE) it brought together 246 participants in 48 teams across three European countries and 30 national experts.

• ActInSpace: the 5th edition of the international hackathon created by the CNES, co-organized by the ESA and operated by Aerospace Valley aimed at imagining tomorrow’s products and services thanks to space data and technologies. This event brought together some 1700 participants and 410 teams across 74 countries (65 cities) as well as 700 international experts.

SELECTED WEBINARS AND EVENTS

On June 9th, 2022, under the aegis of Aerospace Valley Forum, a Space session was held, the keynote speaker of which was the co-founder and CEO of Space Cargo Unlimited.  There was also a round table on the topic, “2030 Space: constellations of players and economic models or a structure based on a few champions? “

On December 6, 2022, Aerospace Valley organized an in-person Space Day event in Toulouse for members only. This event brought together 130 participants including 18 speakers and consisted of a series of conferences on diverse topics. Participants were informed by institutional actors about the industry’s evolutions, trends, programs and support schemes underway, in particular feedback was given on the ESA ministry and France 2030. A focus on the ecosystem, as well as Aerospace Valley initiatives in the Newspace fields, climatic space applications and artificial intelligence were presented. The Space Command provided insight into current military applications in the space field. Ariane Group presented SUSIE and addressed the issue of space exploration.

A France 2030 Space day dedicated to Space Calls for projects in France 2030 took place in February, 2023 in Toulouse. This day brought together laboratories and companies and was the opportunity to discover the Call for Projects of the France 2030 Space  section, but also to find partners to answer it. 

EUROPE FOCUS

The European project PROTECT, funded by Horizon Europe, started in June 2022 for a duration of two years. This project deals with using space data for climate change management and it should ultimately help launch European public markets for the purchase of climate action innovations. At first, the focus will be on five application areas for using Earth observation data: public service management, green cities, health, use of land, the marine environment, and security. A project partner,  Aerospace Valley is in charge of establishing the state of the art in climate services using space data and promoting these technologies with a community of European public buyers.