Strategy Forum on
Space-Based Data Centres

📍12 - 13 November 2026 | ESA ESTEC | Noordwijk, the Netherlands

ESA has identified Space Based Data Centres (SBDC) as a new strategic domain with the potential to unleash a breadth of new space capabilities and applications, and to cement the role of space as an integral part of the future digital infrastructure and ecosystem.

As part of this initiative, ESA is organising the Strategy Forum on Space-Based Data Centres at ESTEC on 12–13 November 2026. The Strategy Forum is not a conventional conference, but a highly interactive in-person collective intelligence exercise, bringing together stakeholders from across the space and digital ecosystems, including industry, operators, digital technology providers, research organisations, investors and institutions.

Participants over the two-days will review, discuss, and assess a range of scenarios describing how future space-based data infrastructure ecosystems could operate, what services they could enable, and what role they could play in supporting European strategic objectives.

To support the preparation of the Forum, ESA is launching an accompanying Request for Information (RFI), now live via ESA’s Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP). Building on the contributions received, participants will engage in collaborative working sessions to challenge assumptions, exchange perspectives, explore alternative approaches, and contribute to the identification of potential pathways for Space-Based Data Centres in Europe.