The collaboration between the scientific community and industry is essential for advancing space science. Industrial partners play a critical role in the development of the sophisticated scientific instruments that are carried on board space missions, providing engineering expertise, manufacturing capacity, and technological innovation required to turn research concepts into operational systems. Coordinating efforts between research centres, universities and industry ensures that scientific objectives are translated into practical and reliable hardware as well as in adequate mission architectures. Moreover, aligning funding strategies for both research centres and industry enables more ambitious and efficient projects, reduces risks, and fosters innovation. This synergy not only accelerates technological development but also maximizes the scientific return of each mission.

This session will focus on this topic and on the importance of industrial contributions for space science. Industry will undoubtedly contribute to the development of next generation technologies and will help to open new frontiers of knowledge while stimulating growth and socioeconomic benefit.

The Director of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Spanish Space Agency, will open the session with the main updates and funding opportunities for the science space sector, including some reflections on the necessity of coordination to promote cooperation between the scientific sector and the space industry. This session will also highlight some success stories funded by Spain through the ESA PRODEX (PROgramme for the Development of scientific EXperiments), an initiative whose main objective is to fund industrial development of cutting-edge instruments or experiments. Finally, a round table discussion will be held with some of the main stakeholders, who will address the main challenges and opportunities for strengthening and boosting the capabilities of the space science industry.

Where: Room N106