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ESA's high-level forum with industry at ESTEC in the Netherlands on 10 September 2024
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ESA leads high-level forum with industry

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ESA / About Us / Business with ESA

ESA continues to foster close cooperation with Europe’s space industry to drive innovation, resilience, and long-term competitiveness. On 10 September 2024, ESA hosted its High-Level Forum with Industry at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. This is the highest-level platform for consultation between ESA and the space sector.

The event gathered over 80 invited participants, including more than 30 CEOs from European space companies, representatives from 14 ESA Member States, the European Commission, and key financial and institutional partners.

Keynote speech set the tone

Keynote speech from ESA Director General, Josef Aschbacher
Keynote speech from ESA Director General, Josef Aschbacher

ESA’s Director General, Josef Aschbacher, opened the forum with a keynote speech underlining the strength and resilience of the European space industry. He highlighted the inaugural launch of Ariane 6 as a symbol of Europe’s determination to deliver under pressure and remain a capable, autonomous actor in space.

Reports from Industry Fora

Representatives from four distinct industry groups: Large System Integrators (LSIs), Midcaps, Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and Young European Enterprises Syndicate for Space (YEESS) presented coordinated reports on the current challenges facing the sector and offered concrete recommendations to ESA.

A key concern raised across all segments was the need to restore profitability in the European space sector to secure long-term sustainability and private investment. Other common themes included predictability in ESA’s procurement cycle, support for scaling up industrial capacity, and the need for simplified access to ESA programmes for new and smaller actors. Ensuring a competitive workforce and enabling better cross-border collaboration were also highlighted as essential for Europe’s space ambitions.

Roundtable discussions define strategic themes

The forum featured four dedicated roundtable sessions, each chaired by ESA directors and structured to address core challenges and opportunities:

  • Strategy 2040
  • Programmatic Challenges and CM25 Preparation
  • Industry Competitiveness and Commercialisation
  • ESA Transformation

These sessions enabled frank exchanges between ESA leadership and industry stakeholders, helping to align priorities ahead of the 2025 ESA Council at Ministerial Level (CM25).

Strategic focus and industry dialogue

Géraldine Naja, ESA Director for Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness
Géraldine Naja, ESA Director for Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness

The forum was held under the guidance of Géraldine Naja, ESA’s Director for Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness, who played a central role in framing the discussions and synthesising their outcomes. In her concluding remarks, Ms Naja delivered a comprehensive summary, highlighting key themes voiced by participants.

She underlined the sector-wide call for ambitious, scalable programmes — including reusable launch systems, space infrastructure, in-orbit servicing, and human spaceflight — and echoed industry’s message that profitability, industrial capacity, and long-term investment planning must be prioritised to ensure Europe’s leadership in space.

Concrete outcomes and shared understanding

The forum led to a strong consensus on the need for urgent, coordinated action to reinforce Europe’s space capabilities. Participants emphasised the importance of a more integrated approach to national and European-level investments, greater programme flexibility, and predictable procurement volumes to sustain industrial momentum.

Many speakers referred to the need for a bold and coherent approach to restore competitiveness and scale up the European space ecosystem.

ESA’s High-Level Forum with Industry once again proved to be a vital platform for insight, alignment, and partnership, reinforcing ESA’s role as a strategic enabler of Europe's space ambitions.

The next high-level forum with industry will take place on 3 June 2025 at ESTEC.