Luxembourg Teams Up with ESA to Create European Space Resources Innovation Centre

Luxembourg has just entered a strategic partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) to create the recently announced European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC).

Based in Luxembourg, the first-of-its-kind ESRIC aims to become an internationally recognised centre of expertise for scientific, technical, business and economic aspects related to the use of space resources for human and robotic exploration, as well as for a future in-space economy. The centre will partner with public and private international players in this field to create a hub of excellence for space resources in Europe. 

Today, Wednesday 18 November 2020, saw the signing of an implementation agreement concerning cooperation activities at ESRIC between the Ministry of the Economy, as the supervisory body of the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA), the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and ESA. The centre is embedded in Luxembourg's space ecosystem, which is promoted and supported by LSA, whilst LIST will operate and host the centre. For its part, ESA will provide equipment, implement research activities at ESRIC and give technical and business support to the business incubator, among other things.

When signing the agreement, Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, commented: "ESRIC is the first research, business and innovation centre wholly focused on the utilisation of resources which you can find in space. Mission-driven research and applications, best-in-class talent and state-of-the-art facilities unique in Europe are the keys to success. We cannot do this alone. Therefore, we are working closely with leading players in the space industry".

ESA Director General Jan Wörner stated: "I warmly welcome the strategic partnership between ESA and Luxembourg in establishing ESRIC, a one-of-a-kind centre dedicated to research and innovation in the field of space resources. I have been closely following the Luxembourg initiative on space resources since its very inception and I am very happy to see ESA Member States driving new endeavours and a concrete outcome. This what makes Europe stronger and more competitive and I would like to thank all those who made this strategic partnership possible".

On behalf of LIST, Luxembourg's Minister of Higher Education and Research, Claude Meisch, added: "The strong commitment of LIST to ESRIC is concretised with the investment of around €3 million in the next five years allowing ESRIC to become, within LIST the internationally recognised centre of expertise for scientific, technical, business and economic aspects related to the use of space resources for human and robotic exploration".

Thomas Kallstenius, CEO of LIST, concluded: "LIST's mission consists of pushing the frontiers in research for high-impact innovation. ESRIC entirely fits into this and we are delighted to welcome this new team as a new department within LIST. We have already conducted several high-level research projects in the space sector and we have identified many potential synergies between ESRIC and our other research departments. For us, the dual use of technologies - in space and on earth - will be of great interest in the coming years".