Spacing Out Across Europe...

For some it's hard to see the wood for the trees. Especially from space. But others are crystal clear on what they can see when it comes to solving problems back down on earth.

Virtuous circles.

Innovations in space-based technology are rapidly being powered by investments and new capabilities that harvest insights from the vast troves of digital data that satellites can procure. And satellites don't just operate in a vacuum. They operate across a complex web of ever-expanding technology that requires sophisticated deployment and maintenance ecosystems from multi-national and cross-organisational actors.

Led by the technological and economic pioneers at SpaceX, who have dramatically reduced the cost of launches through reusability and too many other innovations to mention, the gateways to space have opened wide, facilitating dramatic opportunities for solving urgent needs and opening up new business services.

Pioneers breed more pioneers who leverage investments made by others to accelerate their own ambitions. Here in Europe, we see an event horizon emerging where pioneering Venture Capitalists are aggregating their resources to help launch new businesses into sustainable orbits.

One of the most prominent space-tech funding constellations is the new Swedish-based Nordic fund RymdKapital which recently joined forces with the French fund manager, Audacia, as well as Starburst, the leading accelerator for space technology. The result? A pan-European venture fund for space-tech with offices in Sweden and France. And a European-wide reach.

Simultaneously, the EU and nation states are unleashing funding and focus on new ideas converging from diverse points across the organisational spectrum. Research institutions, universities, startups, SMEs and corporates are becoming more aligned in their missions to deploy and exploit space-based infrastructure, fusing it with terrestrial sensor platforms to drive economic growth and provide security.

Across the northern regions from Finland and the Baltic states, through Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and across the waters to Scotland, the space race is rapidly becoming both a competitive and collaborative endeavor.

By fusing our funding, scientific and organisational threads in space, we can see the wood from the trees...and far below them...