ESA New Space Global Markets Challenge

Building on the successful experiences of the previous years’ start-up competitions, the ESA New Space Global Market Challenge aims at providing visibility, networking and matchmaking opportunities for European space start-ups in their scaling and internationalisation efforts.

The challenge has an overarching goal, “Support and promote European Space start-ups with potential to scale their solutions to new markets”, and can be splitted in its associated objectives:

• highlight and select promising European space entrepreneurs with innovative and disruptive business models;

• raise investors’ and industrial actors’ awareness about the potential of European space start-ups and New Space;

• provide support for internationalisation through means of increased visibility, networking opportunities, match making and other prize contributions.

In this context, ESA will select 8 start-ups in the space sector that can demonstrate the most promising and convincing internationalisation plans for their product and/or service and will offer support to increase their visibility to potential target markets, investors and industrial actors.

What is in it for you? 

At this stage, this is an open call for ideas with no associated funding or contracts, so why should you take the time to provide ESA with your idea?

1. All submitted ideas will be assessed by a team of ESA experts.

2. The European Space Agency wants to be ready to support initiation/initial progress of high potential ideas; to do this, ESA needs to ensure that it has understood your needs. The agency aims to support a competitive European industry, including assisting in areas such as:

• ESA branding and promotion;

• network and partnership building;

• increase visibility to potential target markets;

• matchmaking with potential investors/clients;

3. The top 8 applicants will be provided with networking/matchmaking opportunities and invited to pitch their idea to a panel of investors, ESA experts and industry to be held at the Paris Air Show between 19^th and 25^th of June, 2023.

4. The two best pitches will win tickets to the World Satellite Business Week 2023 in support of their internationalisation plans.

Evaluation criteria

The call is open for submissions for participants registered in one of ESA Member States, Associate Member States or Cooperating States. Eligible submissions will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• technical merit and credibility of the products/service;

• understanding of the (target) markets and suitability of product/service for the target market(s);

• suitability of the implementation plan;

• adequacy and credibility of cost estimations, schedule and planning;

• team composition.

The general and special conditions of participation to this initiative are detailed in the official web page of the call, in which the application form is also available.

The closing date for applications to the call is May 3^th, 2023. The announcement of the top 8 applicants will be made between May 15^th and 5^th of June, with the top 2 winners of the pitch event to be announced at the Paris Air Show later in the month.