More than 400 people at the NewSpace Economy Congress held in Barcelona
The congress has had more than 40 experts in the space sector and representatives of companies, institutions, universities and research centres
The event also featured numerous meetings between investors and companies, as well as 13 exhibiting companies
On 19 and 20 October, the Llotja de Mar at Barcelona hosted the NewSpace Economy Congress 2022, an event organised by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government) that brought together more than 400 people.
These 2 days have been focused on, on one hand, sharing knowledge and experiences about the current affairs, trends and challenges of the NewSpace Economy, and on the other hand, on claiming the potential of Catalonia in the aerospace field.
The event has had the support of the KIMbcn Foundation and the collaboration of the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya), the Digital Catalonia Alliance (DCA), the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia (ICGC), the i2Cat Foundation, the segment in Barcelona of the organisation Women in Aerospace Europe (WIA-E) and the International Space University (ISU).
During the congress, the Catalonia Space Office was announced, a new structure within the IEEC to coordinate and collaborate in the execution of space activities in Catalonia for the development of the NewSpace Strategy. The IEEC thus incorporates the role of Space Office and will collaborate with public and private actors to promote the space sector in Catalonia.
The event also presented other relevant actions of the NewSpace Strategy of Catalonia, such as the launch of the Enxaneta and Menut nanosatellites and the reactivation of the ESA BIC Barcelona incubator.
The congress represents a step forward with respect to the NewSpace conferences held at the Llotja de Mar in 2020 and 2021, and has featured multiple presentations and debates with 42 national and international participants from companies, universities, institutions and centres of research. Also, in the event took part the President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Mònica Roca i Aparici, and the General Director of Innovation and Digital economy of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Daniel Marco.
The NewSpace Congress also hosted different B2B/B2Student networking spaces and spaces between sector’s companies and investors and students, with the aim to facilitate contact and commercial relationships. Finally, la Llotja de Mar had an exhibition area with almost 15 exhibitor companies.
The NewSpace Economy is an expanding industry on an international scale immersed in challenges such as the arrival of new actors, the channelling of talent and innovation, and the funding opportunities. During the congress, these and many other topics were discussed in different round tables, such as the application of data obtained from Earth observation for the development of products and services related to sustainability, mobility and smart cities.
Among the keynote international speakers who have starred the event's lectures are the Program Manager of the Copernicus Space segment of the European Space Agency (ESA), Guido Levrini, the Professor of the ISU Walter Peeters, and Jordi Puig-Suari, renowned “father” of the 'cubesats' (small satellites) and Professor at California Polytechnic State University.
Main Image
Caption: Celebration of the NewSpace Economy Congress 2022 at the Llotja de Mar, in Barcelona.
Credits: Barcelona Chamber of Commerce / IEEC
Links
– IEEC
– Barcelona Chamber of Commerce
– Knowledge Innovation Market Barcelona
– NewSpace Economy Congress 2022
More information
The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) promotes and coordinates space research and technology development in Catalonia for the benefit of society. IEEC fosters collaborations both locally and worldwide and is an efficient agent of knowledge, innovation and technology transfer. As a result of 25 years of high-quality research, done in collaboration with major international organisations, IEEC ranks among the best international research centers, focusing on areas such as: astrophysics, cosmology, planetary science, and Earth Observation. IEEC’s engineering division develops instrumentation for ground- and space-based projects, and has extensive experience in working with private or public organisations from the aerospace and other innovation sectors.
IEEC is a private non-profit foundation, governed by a Board of Trustees composed of Generalitat de Catalunya and four other institutions that each have a research unit, which together constitute the core of IEEC R&D activity: the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) with the research unit ICCUB — Institute of Cosmos Sciences; the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) with the research unit CERES — Center of Space Studies and Research; the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) with the research unit CTE — Research Group in Space Sciences and Technologies; the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) with the research unit ICE — Institute of Space Sciences. The IEEC is a CERCA (Centres de Recerca de Catalunya) center.
Contacts
IEEC Communication Office
Barcelona, Spain
E-mail: comunicacio@ieec.cat