Catalonia launches €40M public fund to boost space industry

Catalonia has a public capital fund to boost the space industry with an initial investment of €40 million. This was announced by the Minister for Business and Labour, Miquel Sàmper, during the presentation of the Catalonia Space Strategy 2030. This government roadmap for the next five years aims to strengthen the space industry in Catalonia and contribute to European technological sovereignty in this field. It also aims to respond to major global challenges related to space, such as data management and exploitation, and connectivity.

Minister Sàmper emphasized that the Catalonia Space Strategy 2030 "reflects the country's ambition to lead the future in the field of space through innovation, talent, and collaboration". This new strategy should also serve to strengthen the industrial and business capabilities of the space sector in Catalonia. "We are committed to industrial restructuring through space technologies", said the minister.

“We are committed to industrial restructuring through space technologies”

Miquel Sàmper, Minister for Business and Labour

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The Catalonia Space Strategy 2030 is structured around five main areas: fostering more innovative companies, attracting more qualified talent, establishing alliances with leading sectors, strengthening international presence, and projecting Catalonia as a benchmark in the space sector.

To achieve these objectives, a capital fund will be made available to boost the space industry with an initial public investment of €40 million, in addition to the €7.5 million budget, to roll out the first actions in 2026. The government intends to mobilize up to €150 million in public funds over the next five years to double this figure through the mobilization of private capital. It is estimated that every euro of public money invested will be multiplied by two.

This new fund will be managed by Avançsa, the agency of the Department of Business and Labour responsible for promoting the Catalan business ecosystem through public-private collaboration.

The strategy is the result of a participatory process involving the main players in the Catalan space sector, as well as experts, institutions, and international agents, to respond to the needs of a sector that should be key to the reindustrialization of Catalonia and that must connect with Spanish and European strategies to place us in the top division of space.

8 satellite missions

The new strategy envisages eight satellite missions between now and 2030, aiming to boost European sovereignty in space communications. These missions are structured around two areas:

• Earth observation is used to respond to droughts, floods, and other emergencies.
• Communications, to reach remote areas and deal with situations such as blackouts.

The missions aim to train the sector and obtain data, as well as to provide Catalonia with infrastructure in this field.

About the presentation ceremony

The presentation ceremony for the Catalonia Space Strategy 2030 took place at the Montsec Astronomical Park in Àger. It was presided over by Minister Sàmper, accompanied by the Secretary for Digital Policies, Maria Galindo. Also participating were the director of the Spanish Space Agency (AEE), Juan Carlos Cortés; the director of Navigation Programs at the European Space Agency (ESA), Javier Benedicto; the secretary for Telecommunications and Digital Transformation, Albert Tort; and the President of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC), Carles Ruíz.

Juan de Dalmau, professor at the International Space University (ISU), hosted the event and moderated the round table with business representatives from the space sector, including Rafel Jordà, CEO of Open Cosmos, Roser Roca, CEO of Airbus GeoTech, and Adrià Argemí, CEO of Pangea.