ESA’s Industry Space Days (ISD) event – taking place on 16 & 17 Sep 2026 – fosters cooperation and the sharing of ideas and expertise through partnerships within the space sector. Its focus is to increase the involvement of small–medium enterprises (SMEs) in space activities. Representatives of ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) across Europe will be in attendance at the ESA BIC Village. Two tips to make the most of your participation: Arrange your meeting with the ESA BIC Noordwijk programme manager Jacobo Domingo and ESA Phi-Lab NL programme director Parya Pasha Zadeh; and join for NL Space Campus’ Connecting the Curious, the official side-event on the last day of ISD. Register for networking
Some information in this post is from the ESA website
Organised by ESA’s SME Section supporting SMEs working with ESA, ISD 2026 facilitates networking and the establishing of new business contacts. It includes pre-arranged one-to-one meetings, exhibitions highlighting the innovations and expertise of selected SMEs, briefings on business opportunities by large groups and institutional organisations, and a conference programme on space perspectives and market trends.
Meet representatives of ESA programmes
Over 2 days, Europe’s space industry will descend on ESA ESTEC to exchange ideas, showcase capabilities, discuss collaboration and explore opportunities with the Agency. You can meet in person with ESA BIC Noordwijk programme manager Jacobo Domingo and ESA Phi-Lab Netherlands programme director Pariya Pasha Zadeh. Pick up information and meet experts at the NL Space Campus stand #E41 in the exhibition area.
ESA has also reserved dedicated booths in the ISD Exhibition Hall for startups to present in an area called the ESA BIC Village. “At Industry Space Days there will be thousands of pre-planned business meetings, presentations from ESA directors and industry leaders, and forums to share ideas and collaborate on new commercial uses of space. This is an opportunity for startups to introduce themselves to other industry players of all sizes for potential collaboration,” said Jens Kauffmann, Head of ESA’s SME Section.
As part of the ESA BIC Village you will also be able to speak to colleagues about esa-star registration, SME status and how you can access the ESA ESTEC laboratories.
Plan your space business meet-ups
If you want to meet lots of people at the ISD, make sure to fill in your profile on the Vimeet B2B platform. A completed profile ensures that participants know what your company offers and makes it more likely for meeting requests to be accepted.
Also, by completing your profile your meetings will be more detailed as the basic chit-chat won’t be necessary.
Additionally, be sure to browse the catalogue of participants at ISD 2026. You can connect online with all participants who have completed their profiles on the platform and start planning who you want to speak to at ISD 2026. Start making and accepting meeting requests now so you don’t miss out.
More tips for a successful ISD2026 event are available here.
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Networking tip – join Connecting the Curious on 17 Sep
You never can quite call an event successful if you have not been to a fun side-event. And you don’t want to miss out on Connecting the Curious at the end of day 2. All ISD attendees are invited to this networking event, which is osted by NL Space Campus with pitching sessions in collaboration with ESA BIC Noordwijk. Take the short walk from ESA ESTEC and mingle with startups, young talent and space industry professionals.
Join for networking, pitches and live music, as well as food – with tables generously sponsored by CometLab, ESA BIC Noordwijk, ESA BIC Ireland, ESA Phi-Lab Netherlands and Tenics.
See you in the CometLab marquee from 17:00! And be sure to register soon as there is limited capacity.
Launch your space business at ESA BIC Noordwijk!
Got a promising idea? Apply to ESA BIC Noordwijk in 2026:
