ESRIC Support Programme Announced at Space Resources Week

Today, Monday 19 April, marked the launch of the third edition of Space Resources Week in Luxembourg, which is taking place in phygital mode until Thursday 22 April 2021.

Organised for the third time in the Grand Duchy, Space Resources Week is the world's largest conference exclusively devoted to the exploration and use of resources in space. This year's event is bringing together around 120 international speakers and experts who will take stock of the development of the space resource use sector.

More than 1,300 people from all over the world have signed up to follow the various seminars which focus on the latest discoveries as well as new concrete use cases for space resources, the international legal framework and funding methods for the research and development of new technologies. The full programme is available on the event website: www.spaceresourcesweek.lu.

In his opening speech at Luxexpo The Box in Luxembourg-Kirchberg on Monday afternoon, the Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, announced the launch of an ESRIC support programme to encourage startups to refine their business plan, attract their first clients and obtain their first investment. Executed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), the Technoport incubator and the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA), this programme will also offer startups access to offices and equipment to further develop their products or services. The initiative follows the recent creation of the Luxembourg-based European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC).

Minister Franz Fayot noted: “The increasingly active presence of private players in the field of New Space promotes the development of commercial space activities. The Luxembourg government welcomes the approach proposed by ESA's Agenda 2025, and especially when it comes to stimulating collaboration and commercialization in the European space sector, including with regard to the development of the use of space resources".

In his address, ESA Director General Dr Josef Aschbacher added: “ESA will continue to pay particular attention to the area of ​​space resources. I am counting on the support and leadership of the Grand Duchy in this regard. Luxembourg is a central player in the European space sector in general and in the field of space resources in particular. Together, we can unleash the full potential of space resources, open up new economic opportunities and ensure the sustainability of future space activities in Europe and around the world”.

As part of the SpaceResources.lu initiative, launched in 2016 by Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy, Space Resources Week is organised and coordinated by the ESRIC, with the support of the LSA, the ESA, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), the International Space University (ISU) and the Colorado School of Mines in the United States. The event was launched in 2018 as the “Mining Space Summit” before evolving into “Space Resources Week”.