Fostering EU competitiveness, Reinforcing EU capacity to access space

​Horizon Europe, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation for 2021 to 2027, has already invested close to 500 M€ in space research and innovation in 2021 and 2022.The detailed Work Programme, published on the ‘Funding and Tenders’ participant portal (HERE), funds space research and innovation along the following structure:

The research under:

  • Foster the competitiveness of the EU space sector;
  • Reinforce the EU capacity to access space

is guided by a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for EU-funded space research supporting competitiveness. The SRIA has been developed with the stakeholders’ community and constitutes an important input for R&I programming under Horizon Europe.

Horizon Europe also funds R&I for the new Space Programme of the Union which regroups in a single programme the four components EGNSS, Copernicus, Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and secured governmental communications (GOVSATCOM) and three horizontal activities to support access to space, start-ups and security.

It is foreseen that R&I for the Space Programme will:

  • continue to support the evolution of space and ground infrastructures for the two EU flagship constellations Galileo and Copernicus;
  • foster the evolution of EGNSS and Copernicus services;
  • contribute to the development of innovative downstream applications, including by combining EGNSS and Copernicus services with other services;
  • develop innovative space capabilities for SSA, GOVSATCOM and pave the way for quantum technologies in EU space infrastructure (the last is not part of the Space Programme).

Furthermore, actions will be undertaken to:

  • develop a space entrepreneurship ecosystems called Cassini and;
  • support activities of interest and cutting-across all the above activity lines such a critical technologies for non-dependence, In-orbit validation (“IOV”) and in-orbit demonstration (“IOD”) services, contribute to space science and missions, outreach and education activities and international cooperation.

STARS*EU will support DG DEFIS in the dimensions Foster competitiveness of space systems and Reinforce our capacity to access space, but also Education and Skills, Critical Technologies for Non-Dependence and Space Science.