ESA SME + Midcap Days 2023
The first ESA SME and Midcap Days will take place at ESA/ESTEC (Noordwijk, The Netherlands) on 25 – 26 April 2023.
On Day 1, speakers from ESA Directorates will present the outcome of the Council Meeting at Ministerial Level 2022 for their programmes and emerging opportunities for industry.
Day 2 will be devoted to the well-established annual SME and Midcap Fora led by the Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement. The two fora are industry consultation processes during which industry participants are invited to share their views and give feedback about topics which affect their companies’ work with ESA and in the space sector in general.
Various possibilities for networking are foreseen throughout the 2 days.
The main objectives of the SME and Midcap Days are to:
- provide actionable information to SMEs and Midcaps with regard to the outcome of CM22 and resulting opportunities
- facilitate networking between SMEs and SMEs, SMEs and Midcaps as well as between both groups and ESA to create potential partnerships
- collect industry feedback about topics which affect the companies’ business in the ESA and non-ESA context
The SME and Midcap Days are organised by the Agency’s SME section and the Industrial Policy and Space Economy Division in ESA’s Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement.
Programme
Tuesday, 25 April 2023
09:00 – 10:00 Arrival and Networking coffee
10:00 – 10:10 Welcome and Opening
10:10 – 10:45 CM22: outcome and opportunities - TEC + Q&A
Alessandro Rapisarda, Technology R&D Engineer, Directorate of Technology,
Engineering & Quality
10:50 – 11:25 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Science + Q&A
Frederic Safa, Head of the Future Missions Department,
Directorate of Science
11:25 – 11:45 Networking Coffee
11:45 – 12:20 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Telecommunications & Integrated
Applications + Q&A
Dietmar Schmitt, Head of Technologies & Products Division,
Directorate of Telecommunications & Integrated Applications
12:25 – 13:00 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Navigation + Q&A
Philippe Michel, Head of the Strategy and Programme Department,
Directorate of Navigation
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 14:35 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Earth Observation + Q&A
Pier Bargellini, Copernicus Space Segment Programme Manager,
Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes
14:40 – 15:15 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Space Safety & Operations + Q&A
Holger Krag, Head of the Space Safety Programme Office,
Directorate of Operations
15:15 – 15:35 Networking Coffee
15:35 – 16:10 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Human & Robotic Exploration + Q&A
Eric Istasse, Data Exploitation & Utilisation Strategy Officer, Directorate of
Human Spaceflight & Robotic Exploration
16:15 – 16:50 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Space Transportation + Q&A
Giorgio Tumino, Chief Technical Advisor, Directorate of Space Transportation
16:55 – 17:30 CM22: outcome and opportunities - Commercialisation & Scale Up + Q&A
Aude De Clercq, Head of the Technology Transfer & Patent Management
Unit, Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry & Procurement
17:30 - 19:00 Networking drink
Wednesday, 26 April 2023
09:00 – 09:30 Arrival and Networking coffee
09:00 – 12:30 Midcap Forum
SME Programme
09:30 - 09:55 The study on the financial viability of SMEs in Europe's space industry: results
and further research
Hans Bracquené, SME4Space chairman
09:55 - 10:20 Status of the ESA Mission Classification
Laurent Marchand, ESA Head of the Quality, Dependability and Product
Assurance Support Division, Directorate of Technology, Engineering & Quality
10:20 - 10:30 Sharing Experiences with ESA - Lessons Learned from space SMEs Andrew Herd, Senior Knowledge Management Engineer, Directorate of Technology, Engineering & Quality
10:30 - 11:00 Networking coffee
11:00 - 12:00 Corporate sustainability due diligence – adjusting to the risks of the global
marketplace // Industry presentations followed by status update regarding the
ESA CSR Code of Conduct
Gunilla Stjernevi-Fris, ESA Head of the Procurement Compliance &
Coherence Office, Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry & Procurement
12:00 – 13:30 Networking Lunch
13:30 – 16:00 SME Forum
16:00 Networking drink including ESA Young Professionals, in particular Young
Graduate Trainees, National Trainees and Research Fellows, seeking future
employment opportunities
Registration
For SMEs
To secure one of the 120 on-site places dedicated to SMEs, participants from companies registered as SMEs with ESA from ESA Member States, Associate States and Cooperating States are invited to sign up via the "Register" button below. Places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. One participant per company can be accepted. The Agency encourages participation at management level.
Two online preparatory meetings for the SME Forum are planned on:
- 27 March (15:00 – 17:00 CEST)
Registered participants will receive invitations to the on-site event as well as to the preparatory online meetings.
Day 1 presentations on 25 April will be livestreamed. SMEs unable to attend the event as on-site participants can register to see the broadcast. They can also register to take part in the SME Forum online preparatory events to provide their inputs to the forum.
For Midcaps
Midcap participation on-site is by invitation only. Registration to the day 1 livestream is possible for all midcaps.
Venue
Space Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC)
The SME and Midcap Days will be held at the Space Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC), located 35km south-west of Amsterdam International Airport.
Getting to ESTECESTEC is located at the southern tip of Noordwijk.
From Den Haag (The Hague): take the A4 (direction Amsterdam) and exit at "Leiden". Follow the N206 towards Katwijk and Haarlem. Take the exit "Katwijk Noord". From there follow signs to "ESTEC" (small white squares).
From Amsterdam: take the A4 (direction Den Haag-Rotterdam) then at the junction follow the A44. Take the exit "Noordwijk-Voorhout", continue to Noordwijk and from there, follow signs to "ESTEC".
Get in Touch
European Space & Technology Centre
Keplerlaan 1
2201 AZ Noordwijk
(The Netherlands)
From Leiden Centraal station, take the number 430 bus to Katwijk ESA ESTEC. The bus stops in front of the ESTEC entrance gate. Please note that this bus leaves four times an hour during peak periods and twice an hour during normal hours. Journey time is approx. 20 minutes.
By plane
From Schiphol airport, either take a taxi to ESTEC (30 min), or a train to Leiden (20 min) and then the number 430 bus (see train directions above) (20 min.). By rental car, follow the "By car" instructions as above from Amsterdam.
Postal address:
European Space & Technology Centre
P.O. Box 299
2200 AG Noordwijk (The Netherlands)
Visiting address:
European Space & Technology Centre
Keplerlaan 1
2201 AZ Noordwijk (The Netherlands)
General telephone number:
Phone: +31 71 565 6565
Fax: +31 71 565 6040
ON THE WEB
The following URLs containing useful information about Noordwijk may be helpful. Please note that ESA accepts no responsibility for the contents of these sites.
- Noordwijk Information
Tourist Office (NL) (Dutch)
Tourist Office (EN) (English)
- Travelling by train
Click here for railway ticket and travel information
- Travelling by car
Address: Keplerlaan 1
Postal Code: 2201 AZ
City: Noordwijk ZH
- Travelling by plane
Train connections from Schiphol Airport can also be found on this website.
Accommodation
Hotel bookings can be dealt with by the ESA Travel Office. The list of hotels and rates are available for download HERE. Kindly note these rates are only available when booked via ATPI and are subject to availability. For the booking of a hotel room via ATPI a booking fee will be applied.
Please send them an e-mail in order to make your booking: esa.traveloffice@atpi.com.
Booking Procedure
In order to book your hotel we require a valid credit card number with expiry date.
Your card will be used to guarantee the room and our service fee of EUR 20 will be charged exclusive of 21% VAT (total amount EUR 24.20).
A secured link will be emailed to you in order to provide the card number and will remain valid for 72 hours. The link works best when you use the Google Chrome browser. Should the link not work please call us during office hours to provide your card number.
If you require a specific company address on our invoice, please inform ESA Travel Office at the time of booking. As they won't be able to change this once the invoice has been processed.
Contact
For questions about the programme of the event, please contact:
Jens Kauffmann
Head of SME Section
Sandra Vogt
Industrial Policy Officer
For any other questions:
Address
P.O. Box 299
2200 AG Noordwijk
The Netherlands
Phone
+31 71 565 8179