For companies undertaking the transfer of a new space technology to a terrestrial market, a key resource is the know-how of ESA itself
ESA maintains teams specialising in every aspect of space technology. The Technology Transfer and Patents Office can put firms in touch with any and all of them as required to provide technical support – including the technical officer who originally identified the relevant technology, or direct access to a technology’s inventor, usually its best ambassador. We can also organise access to ESA’s unrivalled suite of technical laboratories, to undertake related testing.
The requests mostly come from start-ups who are trying to integrate space technology into their commercial solutions, or else apply ‘spin-in’ technology to space – any player is welcome. Our role is to qualify more precisely the technical requirements expressed, and identify the experts in ESA or the technical infrastructure that can answer our partners’ needs.
In the process, we are also contributing to a larger ESA goal: the diffusion of space technology and knowledge into the wider economy.
