On 24 November 2021, the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) hosted the annual NewSpace Europe conference in Esch-sur-Alzette. Entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders gathered physically and virtually from around the world to discuss innovations and leading topics surrounding the theme of “Connecting Entrepreneurs & Investors in the New Space Age”. Four research experts and professors at SnT had the opportunity to take part in one of the conference panels.
With a thriving space industry, Luxembourg has once again become the capital for the yearly conference after its postponement in November 2020. Professors from SnT and the University of Luxembourg presented a talk on “How to boost space innovation” through SnT’s compelling Partnership Programme, with Prof. Djamila Aouada, head of Computer Vision, Imaging and Machine Intelligence (CVI2) research group and . , head of the Space Systems Engineering (SpaSys) research group, as well as Prof. Miguel Olivares Mendez and Prof. Symeon Chatzinotas, head of the Space Robotics (SpaceR) and head of Signal Processing and Communications (SigCom) research groups, respectively.
During the NewSpace Europe convention, SnT experts familiarised attendees from the space sector with its Partnership Programme concept. With appropriate research groups allocated to a partnership project, SnT aims to offer its expertise and state-of-the-art spatial technology solutions. Collaborative exchanges with industry-leading partners therefore contribute to fundamental research in academia. To this day, SnT is involved with over twenty collaborations to explore the opportunities and challenges in space.
This year, the conference was introduced with an opening speech given by Franz Fayot, Minister for the Economy in Luxembourg, followed by talks of field experts – including members of the European Commission. Several big players in the space industry, such as NASA and SES, attended the symposium and young entrepreneurs were offered to pitch their ideas to attract potential investors. As the space opportunities grow big, events like NewSpace Europe bring entities closer, and allow unique opportunities for participants to innovate and collaborate.