On Wednesday 24 January, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a collaboration agreement to strengthen Europe’s space sector.
This collaboration aims to foster cooperation and coordination by focusing on providing financial and advisory support to European space companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“Through this collaboration, the institutions seek to improve access to finance, encourage innovation and knowledge sharing, and stimulate the development of cutting-edge space technologies”, the EIB announced in a press release.
The Director General of the European Commission’s DG DEFIS, Timo Pesonen, acknowledged that access to debt finance for start-ups and SMEs remained difficult, and said that the aim of bringing the three institutions together was to try and resolve this problem.
For ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, “the convergence of ESA’s technical and scientific expertise with the financial acumen and backing of the EIB and the policy support of the European Commission creates a formidable alliance”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)