Last week we had the privilege to attend the European Space Week 2019 (EUSW2019). It was a great space networking event! Not just we had the pleasure to be with one of our incubates, THEIA that won the BMVI Copernicus Masters on Digital Transport Challenge with their most recent project ERMES (https://ermes.space/) - Extensive Road Monitoring Early-warning System through satellite data. But also we could meet dozens of other startups from all over the world, and experts and investors interested to know more about our national ecosystem. The programme was full of workshops and talks on GNSS, EGNOS and the Copernicus family, as well as use cases and user requirements presentation. Also more broad and future preparedness panels on sustainability were inspirational and motivating for all attendees. On top of the great speakers, the breakfast meetings organized by the event were excellent opportunities to boost networking and matchmaking between participants of the EUSW2019. The highlight of the event goes to the “space Oscars” award ceremony. Copernicus and Galileo Master prizes were awarded to several startups and projects that submitted innovative ideas with the use of either Copernicus data or high accuracy positioning. In this context, we are happy to mention that in the past 3 years ESA BIC Portugal companies have been awarded prizes from different Copernicus Master’s challenges: 1. Spacelayer Technologies (www.spacelayertech.com ) in 2017 with SOUL project: https://copernicus-masters.com/winner/soul-sensor-observation-of-urban-life/; 2. Cybele (https://robinbouvier.wixsite.com/cybele) in 2018 with “Making business above profit” (https://copernicus-masters.com/winner/cybele-making-business-above-profit/); 3. THEIA (https://theia.pt/) in 2019 with ERMES (https://copernicus-masters.com/winner/ermes-extensive-road-monitoring-early-warning-system/). To know more about the other Copernicus Masters, check: http://www.copernicus-masters.com/hall-of-fame/

In the past 3 days ESA Space Solutions Centre Portugal went to Bremen, we could not miss the Space Tech Expo Europe. Gathering industry primes, engineers, reserachers, investors as well as policy makers, this European space exhibition allowed us to get updated on the space sector, as well as to meet some of our partners and strengthen partnerships. Portugal Space Agency was represented by Luis Serina, with the inspiring message of Space democratisation along with the ambitious national targets for teh upcoming years. The downstream sector was also well debated - a session hosted by Tony Sephton from ESA Business Applications - and opportunities for startups within the space sector were fully described. Both ESA harmonization (Marco Freire) and SME Office (Jens Kauffmann) were well represented and not doubts remained on how can startups profit from ESA support tools (tech and fund-related). Our project Astropreneurs H2020 had the great opportunity to reinforce the power of the network. It was just a great event to learn, meet and network within the space sector. If you have the opportunity to join the next Space Tech Expo Europe, don't lose it!

Delox, incubated at ESA BIC Portugal, is developing automatic bio-decontamination for everyone, everywhere - space and non-space environments! Yes, this is true, not science fiction! And they are so well perfoming that eveyone notices their potential ;) Yesterday they were awarded by EIT Helath InnoStars. To know more about them visit their linkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/delox-biodecontamination/

The School of Engineering from Minho University will soon extend its educational offer to Aerospace Engineering. As such, a full day event on "Aerospace Engineering: Future Challenges on Teaching and Research" was held in the past October 14th. ESA BIC Portugal was also present and actively participated in the afternoon panel on "The Challenges of Companies in the ASD Sector". To read the full article, please visit https://bit.ly/2IT3fXo

To spread the message and scout for new applicants, we organize hands-on workshops where participants use a given space technology and came out with business ideas to use it here on Earth. The last workshop was organized during the congress of EUROAVIA – The European Association of Aerospace Students (https://euroavia.eu/), held in Lisbon – Portugal, on the 9th October 2019, with the participation of 35 members, coming from 10 European countries. We also organize webinars to support our startups and other entrepreneurs to explore sources of funding and networking. The next will be on the 28th November 2019, at 14h:30m CET, about “ESA BIC Opportunities”! You can find all info here! Registration is free: https://bit.ly/2MovOhs Astropreneurs has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 776258.

The European Space Week is the leading event for the European space programmes in 2019. It brings together business, policy-makers, international experts and the space application user community. The event will present first-hand insights into the European Union’s Space Programmes Copernicus, EGNOS and Galileo and updates on the New Space Economy, as well as discussing how space solutions can contribute to a sustainable Europe and a sustainable future. With a mix of keynotes, panel discussions, networking opportunities, business matchmaking sessions and exhibitions, it provides the perfect setup for a productive exchange of game-changing ideas, future trends and current challenges. WHERE Helsinki Congress Paasitorni Helsinki, Finland WHEN Tuesday to Thursday December 3 to 5, 2019 In the past 2 editions, Portuguese ESA BIC companies have been awarded Copernicus Master prizes: - Spacelayer technologies, 2017: https://copernicus-masters.com/winner/soul-sensor-observation-of-urban-life/ - Cybele, 2018: https://copernicus-masters.com/winner/cybele-making-business-above-profit/. We are anxious to know the 2019 results!

Partindo de desafios lançados pelo ESA BIC Portugal, os mais de 30 participantes da Portugal Space Summer School trabalharam para desenvolver um modelo de negócio, usando uma tecnologia espacial. A tarefa tornou-se mais fácil com o apoio de um conjunto de mentores da Cityoo, D-Orbit Portugal, ExperTree, Present Technologies, TIS, The Loop Co. e Theia com a colaboração também do staff da IPN Incubadora e do LIS-Laboratório de Informática e Sistemas. A sessão de encerramento, sobre a criação do Spaceport nos Açores e o seu contributo para o desenvolvimento tecnológico, crescimento económico e criação de emprego especializado, realizou-se no Departamento de Física da Universidade de Coimbra. No painel esteve presente João Fernandes, Investigador do CITEUC; Alexandre Ferreira da Silva, Coordenador Executivo do Programa MIT Portugal; Ricardo Patrício da Active Space Technologies; Carlos Cerqueira, Coordenador do ESa Space Solution Centre Portugal; Celeste Pereira, Space Business Unit Leader da Optimal Structural Solutions; Fernando Antunes, Fundador da DELOX; Pedro Mota Machado, Astrofísico do Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço e Paulo Eduardo Oliveira, Director da FCTUC/OGAUC. O primeiro lugar do concurso de ideias de negócio foi para o projeto CURAE, idealizado por Maria Rodrigues (estudante de Economia na FEUC e colaboradora de uma das nossas empresas incubadas, a TUU), Diogo Eufrásio (estudante de Engenharia do Ambiente), Paulo Cunha (estudante de Biologia), Diogo Janeiro e Patrícia Mendes (estudantes de Engenharia Aeroespacial, do IST). O CURAE é um sensor, originalmente usado pelo astronauta Thomas Pesquet na Estação Espacial Internacional, que permite medir a temperatura, a pressão arterial, reconhecer padrões de sono ou saber a localização de pessoas idosas. Mas a Portugal Space Summer School não foi só trabalho! Houve ainda tempo para uma visita ao Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra, uma sessão de planetário, uma experiência com rockets de água dinamizada pela Spaceway, uma sessão de observação noturna dos astros e até uma “febrada” astronómica. Esta escola de verão é organizada pelo ESA BIC Portugal em parceria com o Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra e o Centro de Investigação da Terra e do Espaço da Universidade de Coimbra, Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas. Este evento não seria possível sem o apoio dos nossos patrocinadores Cityoo, ExperTree, The Loop Co. e Undersee.

A Universidade de Coimbra associou-se à Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento (IFD), ao Fundo Europeu de Investimento (FEI) e ao jornal Público para acolher um grande evento nacional, na reconhecida cidade dos estudantes, destinado a promover os instrumentos financeiros ao dispor de startups, e de projetos de transferência de tecnologia em Portugal. A Startup Capital Summit realizar-se-á a 18 de setembro, no Pavilhão Centro de Portugal, apresentando-se como uma oportunidade para as startups estabelecerem contato com investidores nacionais e internacionais e conhecerem novas formas de financiamento para os seus negócios. Trata-se de uma oportunidade única para as startups estabelecerem contacto com investidores nacionais e internacionais e conhecerem novas formas de financiamento para os seus negócios. Carlos Cerqueira, Diretor do Inovação do Instituto Pedro Nunes, está presente no painel " Como potenciar o Ecossistema Nacional?".

Evento de comemoração dos 50 anos da chegada do Homem à Lua e lançamento da iniciativa "Portugal New Space Entrepreneurship Initiative 2030". Neste evento, Júlio Resende apresentará o seu mais recente projeto "Cinderella Cyborg" - https://www.julioresende.com/pt/. Entrada gratuita, mediante levantamento prévio de ingresso, até ao máximo 4 bilhetes por pessoa, na bilheteira de TAGV (seg. a sáb. 17h às 22h) a partir do dia 8 de Julho. Este evento tem o apoio da Agência Nacional de Inovação; Antena 1; Câmara Municipal de Coimbra; Ciência Viva; Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia; Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior; Teatro Académico Gil Vicente, Universidade de Coimbra.

IPN, as the Portuguese ESA Space Solutions Centre coordinator could not miss the "New Atlantic Space Summit", last week in Santa Maria, Azores. At this event the Portuguese community gathered to discuss new space, the spaceport, nationa space economy and innovation, also ways to improve our daily life’s, powered by space! To see the detailed programe and more about the event visit it's website: https://newspaceatlanticsummit.com/

IPN was showcased in Toulouse, at the annual ESA Business Applications Workshop, as a success story for being the only centre in Europe with the three ESA tools to promote downstream applications. Both Presenet Technologies - with a demo corner - was highly spotted as one of the first Small ARTES Apps projects converting into a demonstrator project, and Active Space Automation / Active Space Technolgies were presented as a successfull technology transfer from Mars down to Earth industry applications. Congratulations to both companies!

The deadline to submit applications for the Small ARTES Apps Open call was postponed, you have now up to next June 14th to submit your proposal :) Good luck!

No próximo dia 15 de maio realiza-se, no Instituto Pedro Nunes, o workshop “Space Start-Ups: Direito e Prática”, um evento dedicado ao direito do espaço e ao quadro jurídico para as startups que pretendem realizar negócios na fileira do espaço em Portugal (ou a partir de Portugal). O workshop terá lugar no auditório do edifício D, entre as 9h30 e as 17h30. A participação é gratuita mas sujeitas a inscrição aqui: https://bit.ly/2v4TNZB O evento é organizado pelo Instituto Pedro Nunes e pelo SPARC - Space Law Research Center, com o apoio da Computação Científica Nacional - FCT, CEDEIS- Centro de investigação & desenvolvimento sobre Direito e Sociedade (da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Nova de Lisboa) e da Vieira de Almeida. Este evento é financiado pelo programa Astropeneurs. *** PROGRAMA 09h30 - 09h45 Abertura: Apresentação do SPARC, do Programa ESA BIC Portugal e do Projeto Astropreneurs - Space Startup Accelerator 09h45 - 11h00 A criação de uma empresa start-up: aspetos legais (empresariais, fiscais) - Cristina Melo Miranda, VdA 11h00 - 11h15 Coffee-Break 11h15 - 12h00 O Direito do Espaço: perspectiva internacional (relevante para a atividade das empresas da fileira espacial) - João Nuno Frazão e João Marques de Azevedo, SPARC 12h00 - 13h30 O Direito do Espaço: legislações nacionais (relevante para a atividade das empresas da fileira espacial) - Helena Correia Mendonça, VdA 13h30 - 15h00 Almoço 15h00 - 16h00 Os projetos de I&D no interface Ciência/Empresa: gestão da propriedade intelectual - José Ricardo Aguilar, IPN 16h00 - 16h30 O regime do licenciamento de tecnologias proprietárias da ESA por parte de empresas: análise prática - José Ricardo Aguilar, IPN 16h30 - 16h45 Coffee-Break 16h45 - 17h30 Testemunhos de empresas da fileira do espaço: questões e debate - Active Space Technologies, D-Orbit Portugal e Edisoft

The "Board of Engineering Students of Technology" from Coimbra challenged the IPn space team to promote the "BEST Space Day", and the result was just Spacial! More than 20 students from engiinering,m physics and other science fields got together during 2 days to learn more about space, as well as about businesses powed by space. Not just scietific talks, powered by University of Coimbra teachers, were enriching, but also more business oriented talks were enlightening for the pool of students seeking for future job opportunities. ESA BIC Portugal and Astropreneurs H2020 project (@astropreneursh2020) promoted a hands on workshop based on a space technology - how to create a business case out of eLISA mission technologies? LusoSpace, our invited partner presented their eLISA technology (https://www.lusospace.com/elisa/) and challenged the students to think out of the box! We had also the priviledge to have the online presence of Prof. Olivier de Weck, from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics - Massachusetts Institute of Technology sharing his expertise and knowledge about the "Development of a commercial space technology roadmap". If was definitely a very spacial day!

It is now open, the national call to fund 6 months feasibility studies for projects that make use of space technologies (technologies and satellite data) into terrestrial business applications. 50% of project cost will be covered, up to a maximum of 25.000 €. Deadline: 7th June 2019 23:59. To know more visti the menu "ARTES Open Call" above

In the past few month Matereo, one of our alumnus has been massively present on the media. They finished 2018 with a great article on Portuguese magazine because of their victory at the FLAD.EY BUZZ USA awards – https://bit.ly/2H4Cmk4 Then, a second article in the beginning of 2019 about 2 projects running, one of which resulting from their incubation at ESA BIC Portugal, UNDERSEE – https://bit.ly/2TnGBOa And recently, a third article about their new safety product, predictive maintenance for bridges– https://bit.ly/2TrAZ5C Congratulations Matereo for the great work being performed. It’s a pleasure to have supported you in the begging! *** To know more about them check http://undersee.io/ or http://matereo.com/

Recently, ESA Space Solutions Centre (SSC) Portugal celebrated its 4th anniversary, within a two-day event in Coimbra. Inaugurated in November 2014, the SSC Portugal was implemented as a pilot for other European member states as the first, and still the only, centre that aggregates and enhances the results of ESA's three technology transfer programs: the ESA Business Incubator Centre (ESA BIC), the Technology Transfer Network (ESA Brokers) and the ESA Business Application (ESA BA) Ambassador Platform. The aim of the SSC Portugal is to seek entrepreneurs/companies with innovative ideas in using space technologies or developing applications to create new products and services in a non-space environment, from Portugal to the World. As stated in the event by Piero Messina, from ESA Relations with Member State Office, “(…) you would be surprised by the number of national initiatives implemented by small-sized countries, compared to the more established space European countries. Portugal reminds us that space is about moving forward, being bold and launching new initiatives. Portugal is one of the counties that has launched almost an unbelievable number of good and bold initiatives. The good thing about Portugal is that the whole country is involved. It’s a very good signal that all can contribute to the success of a country in a specific domain, like the space activity”. From health to transports and sports, the goal is always to fasten the market entry and support innovative business ideas, enhancing Portuguese competitiveness by creating new start-up companies, fostering technology transfer into terrestrial applications, and nurturing space data uptake, leading to new jobs and growth within the national space-related ecosystem. “Space can deliver information, communication, new science, technology, education, and inspiration. Space today is an infrastructure, and even more! And what to do with infrastructure? Of course you have to use it” said Johann-Dietrich Wörner, ESA Director General, at the event. The first day of the event was focused on celebrating the 2018 milestones and achievements. New start-ups enrolled within ESA BIC Portugal were presented to the network and had their minutes of fame – sticking their logos on the wall and presenting their projects: PavNext, iTrack Solutions, GreenFika, Delox, Kinetikos, mOceanSense and Fire Fly. These new 7 start-ups are now part of a national set of 23 supported companies. Also the most recently launched alumni, Connect Robotics, Matereo, Blucover, Waterdog Mobile and inanoEnergy, had the time to share experiences and learned lessons. So far, the overall ESA BIC Portugal start-ups have achieved a total turnover of 1.3M€ (2015-2017), with more than 80 new jobs created. A Small ARTES Apps 2017 project, GOSAFE, from Space Layer Technologies was presented. This was one of the current supported projects. This national tool has supported other projects, e.g. SWAIR, from Present Technologies, currently running a demonstrator project to increase the precision of GNSS signal monitorization at air navigation through space weather data. With respect to the overall ESA BA network, in 2018 the number of applications to feasibility studies submitted to ESA increased more than 2 times. Last but not least, the great example of the first technology transfer involving 2 brokers from the ESA TT network was presented – from the Portuguese DEIMOS Engenharia to the Austrian start-up Accurision. Nuno Avila, DEIMOS Engenharia Director, was clear with respect to ESA technology transfer broker role on this case: “We moved from a potential market of space units which was about 400 units to a market of millions of units. I have to thank ESA Technology Transfer broker because it wouldn’t have been possible to reach the attention of this particular company, without their efforts. So now we have a branch, we have a hardware for space, and we are miniaturizing it for automobile industry”. In parallel with the session, there was a 50 m2 successful showroom assembled to showcase examples of technology transfer in Portugal. More than 150 participants in the event visited the demo corners where they were able to see, among others, automated guided vehicles that have an ExoMars heritage moving freely on the room; a 3D printer with knowledge and technology from the one developed for the International Space Station; a light sport aircraft mock-up with an operation software based on a licensed ESA patent on fault detection; and a maritime satellite integrating EO data. “Space 4.0 is more than just new space, it’s about participation: citizens and industry" stated the ESA Director General at the event, and beyond the SSC Portugal network, space and non-space industry and media got together to participate in the discussion of the Portuguese future space participation. The 4 panels of the second day focused on the Atlantic Launch Services; Developing capabilities for space within International partnerships; Space rider and the opportunities for pharma; and Future markets powered by space, with special focus on Earth Observation data. National and international companies were highly represented, with the presence of Avio, CeiiA, Critical Software, Edisoft, Hovione, LSE-Space – EUMETSAT, OHB, Omnidea, Orbex, PLD Space, Sogrape, Spin.works, Thales Alenia Space Italy, and the national partnerships MIT-Portugal Program and UT-Austin Program, by Ciência Viva invitation. It was thus natural that the announcement of the Portuguese Space Agency was made public at the event by Manuel Heitor, Portuguese Minister of Science and Technology: “Together with the Regional Government from Azores and several other departments from governmental entities we are establishing the Portuguese Space Agency”. Ultimately, for the future of SSC in Portugal, IPN, its partners and SSC Portugal stakeholders are preparing the new framework (2020-2025). It will have an increased participation from other regions, such as Azores, Alentejo, Algarve, and Madeira in the ESA BIC Portugal initiative, and also will increase the number of start-ups supported: “This is just the beginning, and the next 5 years will bring more entrepreneurs, global startups and a lot of success stories”, stated Carlos Cerqueira, head of SSC Portugal. Additionally, the current return on investment in terms of ESA BA is favourable to a future increase on ESA BA investment, and on the Technology Transfer Brokerage investment: “the experience of IPN within the ESA network has clearly shown us that, first knowledge creates markets, and second, space accelerates good jobs creation. And that is why we are here discussing the future”, these were the words of the Minister of Science at the event. “We have to enable visionaries, and this we can do by space. Space can deliver fascination, space can deliver business and also societal values for the future” - ESA General Director, Coimbra 21st December 2018.

Our 4th anniversary celebration was a 2-day event, held at IPN's premisses, in Coimbra, on December the 20th and 21st. We had not only the presence of ESA General Director, but also of our Minister of Science and Technology, as well as other high-standard speakers and amazing demo corners showcasing great examples of downstream applications of space technology and data. We had Active Space Technologies, Active Space Aerogels, Active Space Automation, D-Orbit Portugal, Matereo Space, Delox, PavNext, SpaceLayer Technologies, GreenFika, Bee Very Creative, Kinetikos, DEIMOS, iTrack Solutions, among other companies also represented between speakers and attendees. The 2018 newcomers PavNext, iTrack Solutions, GreenFika, Delox, Kinetikos, mOceanSense and FireFly were presented to the networ. We all celebrated the lauching of other grown up start-ups that are now alumni from the ESA BIC PT: Bluecover, inano Energy, Connect Robotics, Matereo Space, Waterdog Mobile and Stratio Automotive. Further Small ARTES Apps project from 2017 GOSAFE, from SpaceLayer Technologies was introduced to the newtork too. But we had more! We also looked forward to the future and we discussed on detail New Space & Atlantic Launch Services, as well as Space for Education & Developing Capabilities for Space within International partnerships. The pharma door was opened to the Space Rider mission and the last but not least panel on Future markets powered by Space was also highly interactive between speakers and attendees. Thank you all for attending our anniversary, and stay tuned for new year's edition. *** To know more about the event, you can see it again from our streaming on the following links: 20th Dec: https://youtu.be/PqyAX3VP-9U 21st Dec: https://youtu.be/PbkHj8CmH5c

We are delighted to invite you to our Portuguese Space Solution Centre anniversary celebration, on the 20th and 21st December, at Instituto Pedro Nunes, in Coimbra, Portugal. The event, with the collaboration of Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and Ciência Viva – the Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture, will focus on the achievements of the Portuguese Space Solution network, mainly the start-ups from the Business Incubation Centre, Business Application projects and national technology transfers; and on the future markets powered by space in the context of the Portuguese Space Strategy (www.ptspace2030.pt) with emphasis on international cooperation. Below you can see a draft program for both days: *** DECEMBER 20th 15:00 - Welcome & Reception @ IPN, C building 15:10 - ESA BIC Portugal new start-ups Wall of Fame 15.30 - Reception @ IPN, D building with Tech Transfer demonstrators 16:00 - Anniversary Opening ceremony 16:15 - ESA TTPO 16:30 - ESA Space Solution PT milestones & achievements 16:45 - ESA BIC PT new incubatees 17:00 - Small ARTES Apps 2017 projects 17:10 - ESA BIC PT 2017 alumni round table 17:40 - Closing remarks 17:45 - Networking event supper *** DECEMBER 21st 09:00 - Welcome & Reception @ IPN, D building 09:15 - Opening by IPN President of the Board of Directors and Regional Secretary of Azores Regional Government 09:30 - New Space & Atlantic Launch Services (OHB / MT Aerospace - Joern Spurmann; Orbex - Chris Larmour; CEIIA / Omnidea - Tiago Rebelo; PLD - Miguel Yages) 10:30 - Portuguese Science & Technology Minister 10:45 - ESA General Director 11:00 - Space for Education & Developing Capabilities for Space within International partnerships (Ciência Viva - Ana Noronha; Edisoft - Ricardo Conde; MIT-Portugal Program - Pedro Arezes; UT-Austin Program - José Mendonça) 11:30 - Coffee break & Tech Transfer demo corner 12:00 - Space Rider and the new potential opportunities for pharma (Avio - Roberto Mancini; Thales Alenia Space Italy - Cesare Lobascio; Hovione - Guy Villax; Bluepharma - Sérgio Simões) 12:30 - Future markets powered by Space (Spin.Works - Vasco Pimenta; Sogrape - António Graça; LSE Space - EUMETSAT - Hugo Costa; Critical Software - Ricardo Armas) 13:00 - Closing remarks, by Paulo Ferrão, Science and Technology Foundation President *** Attending the event is free, however the selected venue has limited capacity. Therefore we highly encourage you to confirm your participation by filling out the registration form https://goo.gl/8LHDuH. For any questions please send an e-mail to space@ipn.pt

The European Space Agency’s “Space and Biotechnology” opportunity offers support and funding to companies looking to develop biotechnology services that can benefit from using space-based data or capabilities. This opportunity enables companies to carry out in-depth analyses on the technical feasibility and economic viability of applications across a range of themes, as set out below: Key Focus Areas: Plant Science + Environmental Monitoring + Combating desertification + Controlled-Environment Agriculture + Biopharma + Plant Engineering + Digital Health + Biofuel Production + Logistics and maintenance + Agro-terrorism + Bio-crime To know more about this opportunity download the flyer (https://goo.gl/h993sw ) and contact your National Ambassador, Instituto Pedro Nunes through space@ipn.pt

O astronauta análogo Português, João Lousada, partilhou a sua experiência na palestra “Space is the Place”, uma sessão pública que foi aberta pelo Ministro da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior, Prof. Manuel Heitor. Partindo de desafios lançados pelo Centro de incubação de empresas da ESA em Portugal, os 20 participantes da CSSS trabalharam em equipas e desenvolveram modelos de negócio, usando uma tecnologia espacial – patentes da ESA ou dados de observação da Terra. Com o apoio de mentores da equipa do ESA BIC Portugal e outros mentores externos de empresas do ecossistema, destacaram-se 2 equipas, a FiltRim (vencedora da competição) e a CosmOcean (menção honrosa). João Lousada partilhou na sessão de encerramento da Coimbra Space Summer School a sua experiência. O astronauta análogo português esteve isolado no deserto de Omã, na missão AMADEE-18 que simulou as condições de vida em Marte! Durante um mês, este “astronauta em terra” simulou, em isolamento com uma equipa de cinco pessoas, uma série de experiências de preparação para futuras missões humanas a Marte. O Ministro da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior, Prof. Manuel Heitor, enriqueceu a sessão intitulada “Space is the Place”, durante a qual deu algumas diretrizes da estratégia portuguesa para o espaço, investimentos e tecnologia. Houve ainda tempo para uma visita ao Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra, uma sessão de planetário, uma sessão de observação nocturna dos astros e até uma “febrada” astronómica. Esta iniciativa é co-organizada pelo Instituto Pedro Nunes, entidade que em Portugal é responsável pela Incubadora de Empresas da Agência Espacial Europeia – ESA BIC Portugal, pela Rede de Transferência de Tecnologia da ESA em Portugal e embaixador da ESA Business Applications; em parceria com o Centro de Investigação da Terra e do Espaço da Universidade de Coimbra, e pelo Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra.

A Coimbra Space Summer School (CSSS) é uma escola de Verão dedicada a cativar estudantes, investigadores/as e empreendedores/as para explorar a economia do espaço. A quarta edição da CSSS decorre durante 3 dias, entre 12 e 14 de Setembro de 2018, em Coimbra, com um programa de actividades diversificado, que combina a partilha de conhecimento, o contacto com pessoas, entidades e empresas ligadas ao espaço; desafios para gerar ideias de negócio; experiências quase espaciais, brindes e prémios! Tudo isto num ambiente estimulante e com boa disposição. São 3 dias cheios de espaço! Para saber mais visita a página: https://spacesummerschool.ipn.pt/

ESA Business Applications is supporting Pulp & Paper sector! To know more about the funding opportunity (60k for feasibility 6 month projects) register for the webinar that will take place on August 16th: Targeted topics benefiting from space-based technology include for example: ???? - Improved Pulp Logistics: supporting value chain of pulp products starting from sourcing raw material; - Cleaner Pulp Production: Supporting measurement and monitoring of air (e.g. the target of CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries) is an 80% CO2 emission reduction pathway in 2050) and water quality.? - Support Paper Forest Management: Trees raised for pulp production (plantations) and regular tree maintenance (in European municipal woods for example) provide a significant percentage of pulp mills inputs. Instituto Pedro Nunes as national Ambassador is supporting Portuguese companies presenting proposals!

The Sanitation Economy monetises toilet provision, products and services, biological resources, data and information to provide benefits across the economy and society. Sanitation market requirements relevant to the study belongs to three distinct, mutually supporting sub-economies: - Smart Sanitation Economy, which builds on the sanitation infrastructure to provide health information insights. This approach entails the installation of smart sensors into toilets and sewage systems to provide rapid data collection and analysis of health indicators. - Circular Sanitation Economy deals with the cost-effective reutilisation of human waste, together with other biological waste, to produce a wide range of products, such as: agricultural products, energy, water, protein, etc. - Toilet Economy, which is related to the provision of basic sanitation services (i.e.: community and household toilets) for low-income countries; this mainly focuses on toilet construction, operation, maintenance and cleaning. We are looking for a network of technology and business partners that can deliver sustainable services for sanitation in low-income countries in the areas of Circular Sanitation Economy and Smart Sanitation Economy in particular. Motivation, business experience and domain expertise are key. But most importantly of all, we want to hear business ideas that are economically viable, technically possible and involve either space tech or data; such as satellite Earth observation, satellite navigation, satellite communications, spaceflight technologies. OPENING DATE: 01 September 2018 CLOSING DATE: 31 October 2018 To know more visiti the website: https://business.esa.int/funding/intended-tender/space-for-sanitation And contact the Portuguese Ambassador, IPN (space@ipn.pt).

At this moment SpaceLayer Technologies, Matereo (with Undersee project), Tesselo and mOceanSense are pitching for international investors! May the networking be great for all ESA BIC startups :)

The Space Frontier Foundation in collaboration with FCT and Ciência Viva will organize an international event to promote the development and application of space technologies with a particular focus on the Atlantic region and the growth of newspace entrepreneurship activities. The recently adopted national space strategy “Portugal Space 2030” will provide context and inspiration for a wide range of topics that will be addressed by experts over several discussion panels: such as space law, launch services, space data and Earth observation applications, small satellites and constellations, entrepreneurship, private investment, education and outreach. Meet the Investors’ session! ESA and the Portuguese ESA Business Incubation Center, together with FCT and the Space Frontier Foundation will select a group of 10 entrepreneurs and start-ups to deliver impactful short presentations under 3 min presenting promising business models aiming at downstream applications in a variety of areas, with a particular focus on maritime applications. Requirements: to incubated at an ESA BIC or to be an ESA BIC alumni One pitch will be selected and the associated entrepreneur or start-up will be awarded the “Atlantic Newspace 2018 Award”. Two other honorable mentions will also be given to the second and third in class pitches. The three entrepreneurs or start-ups making it through to this selection will be offered a meeting with a designated VC or Business Angel firm (tbd). Date: May 28-29, 2018 Venue: Pavilhão do Conhecimento, Lisbon, Portugal Enroll here: https://goo.gl/27bUxp until May 4th

Are you looking for €39.000 EURO to cover technical costs of demonstrating the use of a space technology into a non-space application? ESA has issued an open competition for demonstrators! These projects should involve the development and testing of European space technology or know-how in non-space applications, with the aim to achieve a technology transfer. In the technology transfer demonstrators it is expected that the potential receiver of the technology is involved in the project and is willing to work in the endeavor to bring a space technology to a non-space product/application. Demonstrators are meant to reduce the risk of using space technologies in other applications, thus projects that have not already proved the potential use in the proposed (or similar) non-space application, will have a higher potential of selection. To know more about this call, check out the link: https://spacesolutions.esa.int/open-call-technology-demonstrators-2018 And contact your local ESA broker, IPN for Portugal! Mail us by space@ipn.pt

Last March 19th, we had the pleasure to co-host with our partner DNA Cascais the second edition of the Space Founders Dinner in Portugal. The dinner took place in Cascais, joining the community of ESA BIC startups as well as companies and national institutions involved within the space community. At the event, we had representatives from the European Space Agency (ESA), Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT), the Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto (UPTEC), DNA Cascais, the Nova University of Lisbon and the municipality of Cascais. It was a great networking event, promoting collaborations and joint developments, fostering the National Space community.

Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) will coordinate an European acceleration project for 150 startups who find new business opportunities in the area. The Astropreneurs starts on January 9 with the first meeting of the various partners Astropreneurs manages a budget of two million euros to leverage new business ideas aimed at the space market or incorporating space technology into terrestrial applications. Funded by the European Commission through the H2020 Program, this project will create new businesses, generate employment and stimulate economic growth in cooperation with industry, investors and national and European institutions. Astropreneurs is coordinated by Portugal through IPN and brings together various partners from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. Around 500 entrepreneurs will have access to intensive training, which includes 50 hours of mentoring and consulting led by 100 experts to support entrepreneurs in accelerating their projects and attracting public and private funding for faster entry and consolidation in Marketplace. To help turn promising ideas into viable businesses, Astropreneurs opens the door to a vast network of investors, industry and support agencies that integrate the so-called "Space Economy" so that companies get the most out of target markets and opportunities. Entrepreneurs also have access to a set of technical workshops and meetings with key stakeholders in the space industry. Applications open in September. Space is increasingly a source of economic growth and innovation For a long time, the space sector was more focused on strategic objectives related to space science and exploration. However, this reality has changed and this sector has attracted the attention of other actors, such as states, companies and private investors. The "Space Economy" has become a sector with real impact, bringing disruptive innovations and many new business opportunities, especially when applied to other land sectors of the economy. For example, Galileo, the European satellite localization system, providing unparalleled precision, is creating its own business area, with hundreds of startups starting to explore this opportunity. EGNOS, a forerunner to Galileo, is a complementary system that increases the accuracy of satellite navigation signals in Europe and can also support new applications in a variety of sectors, such as aviation or precision agriculture. The European Copernican program, which provides Earth observation data in real time, is another source of spatial data that is being incorporated into new products and services of the future in areas such as environment, civil protection and civil security. More info at https://astropreneurs.eu/

16 companies and 56 new jobs are applying space technology in terrestrial sectors with an export capacity of 40% and an annual return of almost 900 thousand euros in 2016. These are the numbers of three years of existence of Incubation of the European Space Agency in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal), coordinated by Instituto Pedro Nunes and supporting startups that transfer space technology for terrestrial applications. In this third year of activity, ESA BIC Portugal announces the entry of five new projects and the graduation of six startups that, with the support of this program, have managed to reach a stage of maturity. Carlos Cerqueira, IPN, notes that ESA BIC Portugal "demonstrates the maturity of the Portuguese space industry and the ability of Portuguese startups to find new solutions and business for the terrestrial market from space technologies." FIVE NEW COMPANIES Horizontal Cities, Stratio, Tesselo, Fibersail and Theia, which apply technology initially designed for Space in areas such as transport, natural resources, maintenance industry and archeology, are the five new companies joining the others supported. Horizontal Cities, winner of the Vodafone Big Smart Cities 2015, created the first GPS application for cycling users that allows navigation through flat routes in the city of Lisbon. Also operating in land transport, Stratio, uses space technology in heavy duty vehicles to predict and anticipate the occurrence of severe wear and tear, allowing timely actions by transport companies and, consequently, a reduction in maintenance costs and and a reduction in the emission of polluting gases. Stratio was one of three startups selected at the 2017 Web Summit as an example of the use of space technology in terrestrial markets. Tesselo, which has developed a technology aimed at companies that manage terrestrial natural resources, combines satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to provide real-time geospatial information through a system that continuously monitors the state of agricultural crops and forest and forest health. forests. Another new incubator of ESA BIC is Fibersail that promises to revolutionize the way currently is the prevention and monitoring of fatigue of large structures in the markets of the wind industry and maritime transport. With a fiberoptic measurement and monitoring system that allows you to measure - remotely and with high precision - the shape of any structure, Fibersail can provide information on the behavior of, for example, wind turbines in real environment, allowing builders to create more efficient and secure structures. Theia is the fifth new company to join the ESA BIC community with a project that allows the remote detection of archeological sites and resources based on satellite imagery, allowing for very large archaeological assessments, quickly and accurately, avoiding delays and cost overruns in large works such as motorways. SIX STARTUPS REACH MATURITY The three first years of ESA BIC Portugal also mark the first six graduates: Active Aerogels, Findster, D-Orbit, Space Layer Technologies, Airborne Projects and Eye2map are companies that survived the startup phase and reached maturity with the support of this program. Active Aerogels, which developed the world's first spray airgel with super-insulation properties, and can be used at temperatures ranging from -250 to 400 degrees, went from the prototyping phase to an industrial scale with mass production capability. Created initially to isolate rockets, Active Aerogels' innovative and unique product is expanding to land-based markets, useful in construction, to replace thermal insulation foams and in the aircraft industry, to end the wear and tear caused by traditional material which covers the planes. Findster has created, through geolocation technology, a system that allows the user to have absolute control over the location of children, elderly and pets and does not require the payment of monthly fees for their use. D-Orbit develops Atmosphere Analyzer, an innovative approach to ionosphere sampling, where during the reentry maneuver, the satellite passes through an ionosphere region between 80km and 150km, collecting data and transmitting it to the land. To this day, this region has been little investigated for being too high for stratospheric balloons and too low for satellites. Space Layer Technologies has developed the SOUL application which, through satellite Earth Observation data, provides alerts on city air quality to patients with respiratory diseases, minimizing the impact of pollution on their lives. Airbone Projects is developing an unmanned aircraft landing station (UAVs, drones) to switch batteries and solve the problem of the limited time of their flights when they fly, for example, large agricultural or forestry areas. Maintenance of power lines, electronic surveillance and precision agriculture are some of the sectors that benefit from this technology. Eye2Map is dedicated to the provision of imaging services and geographic information obtained by drone, aircraft or satellite that can be applied, for example, in the measurement of coastal erosion, burning areas, volume of wood, disease detection and pests in plantations and monitoring works of art or monuments. THE ANNIVERSARY The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, and the Deputy Minister, Pedro Siza Vieira, attended the 3rd anniversary of ESA BIC Portugal. At the session, Niels Eldering, who has been involved in ESA's incubation program at European level for 15 years, considered Portugal "one of the most enterprising members" of ESA. "Portuguese entrepreneurs stand out for their persistence, they do not give up." João Gabriel Silva, Dean of the University of Coimbra, Carlos Brito, Vice-Dean of the University of Porto, Ana Abrunhosa, President of the CCDR and Teresa Mendes, President of the Board of Directors of Instituto Pedro Nunes. ESA BIC Portugal is a program under the project funded by the 2020 Center, Portugal 2020 and the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund "SIAC ESA BIC".

INFANTE is a development and demonstration microsatellite project that will be in orbit (to be launched in 2020) as a precursor of a constellation for Earth observation and communications with a focus on maritime applications. The project was presented last October 19th, during the International Meeting of AED - Aeronautics, Space and Defense Cluster, in Oeiras. INFANTE will be the first satellite developed by Portuguese industry, articulated in a national consortium led by the TEKEVER group, which integrates nine companies with references in the space sector such as Active Space Technologies, Omnidea, Active Aerogels, GMV, HPS and Spinworks; and 10 internationally recognized R&D centers in their areas of competence, such as CEIIA, FEUP, ISQ, FCT-UNL, INL, IPN, IPTomar, ISR Lisbon, IT Aveiro and UBI. INFANTE will establish the basis for new lines of business associated with the space sector, based on new products, services and processes, contributing to strengthen Portugal's position in the international space landscape. The INFANTE space segment includes a modular and low-cost microsatellite, equipped with a software-defined radio with air and maritime surveillance functions; propulsion system for orbit maintenance; solar panels and their mechanisms; and cargo bay with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and multispectral camera, along with scientific experiments and technological validation. In the soil segment, the INFANTE project includes the development of a new system for rapid assembly, integration and testing, adapted to small satellites and frequent launches; and a data hub to aggregate, process and disseminate information. The consortium is joined by satellite data users to support the demonstration of INFANTE results, such as the National Maritime Authority, IPMA or INIAV; other domestic companies; and international organizations such as the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Federal Fluminense Institute of Brazil or the French CLS. INFANTE takes place between 2017 and 2020 and has an investment of 9.2 M €, executed by a team of 150 researchers, engineers and technicians, of whom 40 are PhDs. It is co-financed by Structural Funds in the context of the Portugal 2020 Program's R & D IS Mobilization Programs.

The startup business idea was one of the 4 chosen to integrate the accelerator of the Repsol Foundation. The idea for contest was autonomous microgenerators that use the residual energy to generate electricity, especially to feed the sensors that monitor the pipe networks in industrial installations. InanoEnergy, backed by the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre Portugal, develops tailor-made, lightweight and flexible micro and nano-generators capable of converting waste electrical energy into electricity. The solution created by InanoE makes it possible to take advantage of the heat and movement of the user body to power mobile phones and small electronic devices (tablets, iPods, health monitors, etc.). Selected from 354 projects, InanoE was part of the range of 4 business ideas that will receive 2,000 euros per month for 12 months. In addition to financial support, InanoE's award includes technical and legal support, access to a network of potential investors and mentoring during the acceleration phase of the project. The business accelerator of the Repsol Foundation, launched six years ago, aims to support the most innovative projects in energy and mobility, with the aim of reaching the market as soon as possible More info at: http://www.fundacionrepsol.com/en/news/we-already-know-new-startups-entrepreneurs-fund

Berlin received on the 18th and 19th of September the Space Moves! Business Idea Competition. The most promising ideas were selected to pitch for a panel of experts, including ESA’s experts! Among them was the Portuguese “All In Surf”. The Portuguese startup won the third place of the competition. All in Surf, is an on-site monitoring system allowing better understanding of the behavior of ocean currents over the surfboard in the formation of giant waves and helps to realize important details that help to improve the performance of surfers. Instituto Pedro Nunes was present at the event as the National ARTES Ambassador, the first European organization that jointly manages an ESA Business Incubation Center, as well as Ambassador Platform, and even ESA Technology Broker. Thus, IPN was also present on behalf of its ESA BIC Portugal’s role, supporting an entrepreneurship project (All in Surf) also enrolled in the "Promotion of the space economy and support in the incubation program of the European Space Agency in the Central Region" (CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019). The CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019 project is co-financed by the European Funds supported by the Center 2020 - Regional Operational Program of the Center.

In order to stimulate the participation of the industry and academic community in the programs Galileo and EGNOS, the Portuguese National Authority of Civil Aviation (ANAC) is organizing the workshop “Deployment of Galileo and EGNOS in Portugal”. The workshop will take place on September 21st, in the main auditorium of the Aeronautical Infrastructures Direction on ANA (Portugal Airports), being the registrations open until September 15th. To known more, please visit: http://www.anac.pt/vPT/Generico/Eventos/Paginas/GSAMarketDevelopment.aspx

“We can reduce costs by 40–60% with respect to conventional couriers, so our customers can offer quicker product delivery at a much lower cost”. This is the "Flying Kettle" of Connect Robotics, founded by Eduardo Mendes and Raphael Stanzani, and part of ESA BIC Portugal. Motivated by the potential of drones to transport life-saving goods, help people in distress and reduce the isolation of people living in remote regions, they are exploring the ‘last-mile delivery market’, of interest to medical distributors, postal services and retailers, who need fast and reliable deliveries at lower costs. You can read more at: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/TTP2/The_flying_kettle

Coimbra Space Summer School launched the challenge: to stimulate business ideas that bring technology from space to the earth day-to-day. Many were the people who responded to it. The Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra hosted two full days of activities, such as Space Sessions and Business Sessions (among which general knowledge about space, successful applications of space technology in our daily lives, earth observation, data collection and Satellites). In these sessions participants learned about the two strands and how to relate them. The peak of the first day was the lecture "How to be an Astronaut" by cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienk. The auditorium of the Department of Physics was small to welcome all those who wanted to hear it. Mikhail Kornienk remembered in Coimbra his 516 days in space (of which 340 followed, the second largest stay of a human being in space). There were questions in all sort of forms: How do astronauts bathe? How do you eat? Why do you have two watches? What are you doing all day on the space station? What did you miss the most? The cosmonaut answered all questions with a touch of humour. Over two hours, the cosmonaut spoke from day to day in space and looked ahead to the future: conditions must be met to advance to Mars. For Kornienko the conquest of Mars and its colonization is possible and urgent, as humans destroy the planet Earth. The Russian cosmonaut was still confident about the possibility of future human colonies on other planets. He also warned of the imminent destruction of our planet, calling on young people to change their attitudes to defend the planet. Yet during the first day there was time for a different activity, a nocturnal observing session, during which participants had the opportunity to see stars such as Saturn, Jupiter, double stars and swarms of stars. Several challenges were introduced to the participants, who gathered in teams to solve them. On the second day, it was up to the teams to make a final presentation of the draft resolution of the challenges to the scientific and business community. The day was closed with an “Astro Barbecue”, in which, in a more relaxed atmosphere, the Coimbra Space Summer School ended, and the prizes were awarded to the winning team, one drone per participant. Coimbra Space Summer School was organized by the Incubator of Companies of the European Space Agency in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal), headquartered at IPN, and by the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra.

The ARTES Workshop "how to write good proposals for ARTS" was held yesterday at Pavilhão do Conhecimento da Ciência Viva, in Lisbon. The workshop was organized by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Program's Ambassador of the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES). It was aimed at the Space community and Portuguese companies working space assets with applications on Earth. We had the presence of the European Space Agency (ESA) represented by Norbert Huebner, who spoke on the subject in question. The various participants have the opportunity to have face-to-face discussions with Norbert Huebner to present ideas for ESA ARTES projects. There were interventions by Emir Sirage from the FCT Space Office, Fernando Guerra from ANACOM, national delegate to the ARTES program, and Carlos Cerqueira from the Pedro Nunes Institute. During the event, the Small ARTES Open Call Financing Program was also presented. This initiative aims to encourage companies to submit their proposals for practical and terrestrial applications of space technology such as communications or satellite navigation, earth observation and technology used in manned spaceflight. The selected proposals can benefit from a financing of up to 25 thousand euros, not being restricted to Portuguese beneficiaries. The CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019 project is co-financed by the European Funds supported by the Center 2020 - Regional Operational Program of the Center.

Estimular negócios inspirados no Espaço é o desafio lançado pela Coimbra Space Summer School, promovido pelo Instituto Pedro Nunes, que vai acontecer em Coimbra entre 13 e 15 de julho. O Instituto Pedro Nunes está à procura de ideias que tragam tecnologia do Espaço para o dia-a-dia da Terra. Este desafio é lançado pela Coimbra Space Summer School a jovens investigadores, estudantes e empreendedores que, durante três dias, de 13 a 15 de julho, terão a oportunidade de criar uma proposta de negócio em torno do Espaço. O objetivo é aproveitar conhecimento, tecnologias e recursos gerados nas missões espaciais e nas atividades científicas de exploração do Espaço para criar soluções inovadoras para áreas como cidades inteligentes, transportes, turismo e lazer, saúde e bem-estar, agricultura e ambiente. A Coimbra Space Summer School, de participação gratuita, decorre nas instalações do Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra e conta com colaboração da Incubadora de Empresas da Agência Espacial Europeia em Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal). As inscrições já estão abertas e podem ser feitas em grupo ou individualmente. O programa inclui Sessões Espaço e Sessões Business para os participantes aprenderem sobre as duas vertentes e como ligá-las. Será também feita uma apresentação final de projetos à comunidade científica e de negócio em torno da transferência de tecnologia do Espaço e aplicações terrestres, a mentores e investidores. Além da exploração de oportunidades de negócio com tecnologia espacial, o programa inclui atividades lúdicas, bem como oportunidades de networking entre os participantes, organização, formadores e convidados da iniciativa. No dia 13 de julho contamos com a presença do cosmonauta Mikhail Kornienk. Estará no Departamento de Física da Universidade de Coimbra, pelas 14h30, para a palestra “Como Ser Astronauta”, onde vai falar sobre a sua profissão e as suas experiências no Espaço. Mais informações em http://spacesummerschool.ipn.pt/ ou em https://www.facebook.com/coimbraspacesummerschool/ Cosmonauta Mikhail Kornienk A 2 de março de 2016, Mikhail Kornienko foi notícia mundial. Após 340 dias consecutivos a bordo da Estação Espacial Internacional, o cosmonauta russo regressou à Terra depois da segunda mais longa estadia de um ser humano no Espaço. A missão “Um ano no Espaço” pretendeu compreender melhor os efeitos das viagens espaciais no organismo humano, um estudo essencial para a preparação de jornadas mais longas, como as futuras missões a Marte, que devem durar entre dois e três anos. ___________________________________________________________________________ Stimulating business inspired by Space is the challenge launched by Coimbra Space Summer School, promoted by Instituto Pedro Nunes, to be held in Coimbra between July 13 and 15. Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) is looking for ideas that bring technology from space to the earth day-to-day. This challenge is launched by Coimbra Space Summer School to young researchers, students and entrepreneurs who, for three days, from July 13 to 15, will have the opportunity to create a business proposal around the Space. The objective is to harness the knowledge, technologies and resources generated in the space missions and the scientific activities of space exploration to create innovative solutions for areas such as intelligent cities, transport, tourism and leisure, health and wellness, agriculture and the environment. Coimbra Space Summer School, with free participation, is held at the premises of the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra and is supported by the Business Incubator of the European Space Agency in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal). Registration is already open and can be made in groups or individually. The program includes Space Sessions and Business Sessions for participants to learn about the two strands and how to connect them. There will also be a final presentation of projects to the scientific and business community around the transfer of space technology and terrestrial applications, to mentors and investors. In addition to exploring business opportunities with space technology, the program includes play activities as well as networking opportunities among participants, organization, trainers and guests of the initiative. On July 13 we had the presence of cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienk. He will be in the Department of Physics of the University of Coimbra, at 2.30 pm, for the lecture "How to be an Astronaut", where he will talk about his profession and his experiences in Space. Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienk On March 2, 2016, Mikhail Kornienko became world news. After 340 consecutive days aboard the International Space Station, the Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth after the second longest time of a human being in space. The "One Year in Space" mission sought to better understand the effects of space travel on the human body, an essential study for the preparation of longer journeys, such as future missions to Mars, which should last between two and three years. More info at http://spacesummerschool.ipn.pt/ or https://www.facebook.com/coimbraspacesummerschool/

O ESA BIC Portugal marcou presença no Lisbon Investement Summit 2017. O evento teve lugar nos dias 6 e 7 de Junho, no Pavilhão Carlos Lopes, em Lisboa. Estiveram presentes a D-orbit, que produz tecnologia que permite a recolha de dados in situ da mesosfera, a water dog dedicada ao desenvolvimento e design móvel, a Airborne Projects que desenvolve soluções de software e hardware para aeronaves não tripuladas e a Connect Robotics. A Connect Robotics está no mercado de entregas autónomas por drone Além da Linha de Vista (BVLOS - Beyond Visual Line of Sight). O Lisbon Investment Summit é uma conferência que reúne investidores, empresários e executivos da comunidade tecnológica de todo o mundo num ambiente de contacto direto, criando oportunidades de networking e de investimento. O evento contou com a presença do primeiro-ministro, António Costa, e do secretário de Estado da Indústria, João Vasconcelos. O ESA BIC Portugal marcou presença no no Lisbon Investement Summit 2017 através do projecto ESA BIC “Promoção da economia do espaço e apoio no programa de incubação da Agência Espacial Europeia na Região Centro”, CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019. O Projeto CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019 é co-financiado pelo apoiado por fundos europeus, pelo Centro 2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Centro. ############################################################## ESA BIC Portugal attended the Lisbon Summit Investement 2017. The event took place on 6 and 7 June at the Carlos Lopes Pavilion, in Lisbon. Among the present startups, were D-orbit (which produces technology that allows in-situ data collection of the mesosphere), airborne projects (that develop software and hardware solutions for unmanned aircraft) and Connect Robotics, founded in January 2015, by experts in UAVs control and in supply chain management. It's currently doing autonomous drone deliveries BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) in Portugal, and actively working to safely integrate drones into the international airspace as founding member of the Global UTM Association The Lisbon Investment Summit is a conference that brings together investors, entrepreneurs and technology community executives from around the world in a direct contact environment, creating networking and investment opportunities. The event was attended by the Prime Minister, António Costa and the Secretary of State for Industry, João Vasconcelos. ESA BIC Portugal was present with the support of the ESA BIC project "Promotion of the space economy and support in the incubation program of the European Space Agency in the Central Region", CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019. The CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019 project is co-financed by the European Funds supported by the Center 2020 - Regional Operational Program of the Center.

On the upcoming June the 20th, at the Knowledge Pavilion from "Ciência Viva" in Lisbon, ESA ARTES Ambassadors in Portugal will host a workshop on "How to write good proposals for ARTES". The workshop is aimed for the Space community, but also to other Portuguese companies that even if operating in terrestrial markets, (may) use space technology. ESA will be represented by Norbert Huebner, Head of Feasibility Studies Section, who will speak on the subject and prepare the attendants to submit successful applications. All interested attendants may have the opportunity to have a face-to-face discussion with Norbert Huebner, subject to schedule. The event is public and free, however registration is mandatory: https://goo.gl/forms/nGKLzmPudSO14MjU2 PROGRAMME 09:30 – Welcome and reception of the participants 10:00 – Opening: Objectives of the Workshop and space opportunities in Portugal FCT, ANACOM, IPN 10:30 – How to write a Good Proposal for ARTES ESA IAP, Norbert Huebner 11:30 – Brief coffee break 12:30 – Final notes ESA IAP, Norbert Huebner 13:00 – Closing session __________________________________________________________________________ No dia 20 de junho, no Pavilhão do Conhecimento da Ciência Viva, Lisboa, a Plataforma Embaixadora do Programa ARTES da Agência Espacial Europeia (ESA) em Portugal organiza o workshop “How to write good proposals for ARTES”. O workshop destina-se não só à comunidade do Espaço mas também a empresas portuguesas, que operando noutros mercados terrestres, utilizem (possam vir a utilizar) tecnologia espacial. Contará com a presença da ESA, na pessoa de Norbert Huebner, que falará sobre o tema em questão, detalhando como se constroem candidaturas de sucesso. Todos os interessados poderão ainda solicitar de uma reunião cara-a-cara com a ESA para apresentação de ideias de projetos ESA ARTES e sua discussão, sujeito a agendamento prévio. Este evento é público e gratuito, contudo sujeito a registo obrigatório: https://goo.gl/forms/nGKLzmPudSO14MjU2 PROGRAMA 09:30 – Recepção e recepção dos participantes 10:00 – Abertura: Objectivos do Workshop e oportunidades espaciais em Portugal FCT, ANACOM, IPN 10:30 – Como escrever uma boa proposta para o ARTES ESA IAP, Norbert Huebner 11:30 – Coffee Break 12:00 – Apresntação da call para o ARTES e Q & A ESA IAP, Norbert Huebner 12:30 – Notas finais 13:00 – Encerramento

O IPN e a ESA BIC Portugal marcaram presença na sessão da “Bolsa de Empreendedorismo 2017”, no passado dia passado dia 9 de maio, Dia da Europa, na Fundação Champalimaud. Discutiu-se a importância das incubadoras tecnológicas e a questão da transferência de tecnologia do contexto da investigação universitária para o mercado empreendedor. Nesta sessão foi apresentado o caso da ESA BIC Portugal, e do projecto ESA BIC “Promoção da economia do espaço e apoio no programa de incubação da Agência Espacial Europeia na Região Centro”, CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019, que foi escolhido como exemplo de investimento da União Europeia. Até a data, o ESA BIC Portugal ajudou a criar 16 empresas, em áreas tão diversas quanto golfe, agricultura, qualidade de ar, network em aeroportos, entre outras. A sessão contou com a presença de Paulo Santos (IPN - Instituto Pedro Nunes), Carlos Cerqueira (incubadora, ESA BIC Portugal), Clara Gonçalves (UPTEC) e Bruno Santos Amaro (Tec Labs - Centro de Inovação). “Das ideias ao investimento” é este o lema da Bolsa do Empreendedorismo 2017, sendo que o objectivo da mesma é proporcionar oportunidades, contactos e redes de colaboração para passar ao nível seguinte. O Comissário Europeu Carlos Moedas também marcou presença neste evento. O Projeto CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019 é co-financiado pelo apoiado por fundos europeus, pelo Centro 2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Centro __________________________________________________________________________ ESA BIC Portugal was present at the "Bolsa de Empreendedorismo 2017" session last May 9th, Day of Europe, at the Champalimaud Foundation. It was discussed the importance of technological incubators and the issue of technology transfer from the context of university research to the entrepreneurial market. This session presented the case of ESA BIC Portugal and the ESA BIC project "Promotion of the space economy and support in the incubation program of the European Space Agency in the Central Region", CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019, which was chosen as an example of European Union investment. To this point, ESA BIC Portugal helped create 16 companies in areas as diverse as golf, agriculture, air quality, airport network, among others. In this session were Paulo Santos (IPN - Pedro Nunes Institute), Carlos Cerqueira (incubator, ESA BIC Portugal), Clara Gonçalves (UPTEC) and Bruno Santos Amaro (Tec Labs - Innovation Center). "From ideas to investment" is the slogan of the Bolsa de Empreendedorismo 2017, the aim of which is to provide opportunities, contacts and collaboration networks to move to the next level. The European Commissioner, Carlos Moedas, also attended this event. The CENTRO-02-0651-FEDER-000019 project is co-financed by the European Funds supported by the Center 2020 - Regional Operational Program of the Center

It was on the 4th and 5th of May that the o "Pitching for Investors 2017" workshop took place in the IPN, conducted by Rick Salmon. Within the scope of the ESA BIC Portugal program and the Regional project to foster entrepreneurship and help startups using space technology to raise funds and foster their skills in "investment readiness", IPN promoted a workshop to thought entrepreneurs to communicate a business idea effectively, in a short period of time. Rick Salmon is an American communication specialist working with both entrepreneurs and with extensive experience as a corporate leader. He was also one of the winners of the prestigious European Venture Pitching Contest, in 2009. He co-founded several successful technology companies. Rick also led innovation and leadership development programs for clients such as the European Space Agency, Walt Disney Corporation, ESPN Sports, and others. This initiative was aimed to a few entrepreneurs involved in startups from the ESA Incubation Center in Portugal. This project is co-financed by Centro2020, Portugal 2020 and European Union through the European Regional Development Fund. __________________________________________________________________________ Nos passados dias 4 e 5 de Maio, o IPN promoveu o workshop "Pitching for Investors 2017", conduzido por Rick Salmon, no âmbito do programa ESA BIC Portugal. Este workshop, dirigido a jovens empreendedores visou ajuda-los a comunicar a ideia de negócio, com base numa tecnologia espacial, de forma eficaz e num curto espaço de tempo. Os empreendedores do espaço que participaram neste workshop ficaram assim melhor preparados para angariar fundos, promovendo as suas competências na "preparação para o investimento". Rick Salmon é especialista em comunicação, tanto junto de empreendedores como com vasta experiência no mundo corporativo. Foi em 2009 um dos vencedores do prestigiado European Venture Pitching Contest. Co-fundou várias empresas de tecnologia de sucesso, promovendo e orientando programas de desenvolvimento de liderança e inovação para a Agência Espacial Europeia, Walt Disney Corporation, ESPN Sports, entre outros. Esta iniciativa destinou-se apenas a alguns empreendedores no espaço, promotores de startups do Centro de Incubação da ESA BIC Portugal. Este projecto é co-financiado pelo Centro2020, Portugal 2020 e pela União Europeia através do Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional.

This call for Kick-start Activities, dedicated to the theme "Ageing Population", is opened to ideas for services addressed to the ageing population as a whole, local authorities, carers, the (national) health and social care system, residential homes, technology and service providers and other relevant stakeholders in this sector. Such services may include for example: 1. Health and care: mobile health, tele-home, remote monitoring, fall prevention, wearable devices 2. Independent living: smart home, home automation, lifestyle intervention, remote workplace, personal assistance 3. Safety and security: surveillance, emergency response, extreme weather and pollution alerts 4. Social, leisure and education: social interaction, remote education, remote occupation, entertainment, (outdoor) mobility The Kick-start activity proposed must demonstrate the relevant exploitation of space-based data and technology for instance: Satellite communications, Satellite navigation, Earth observation or Human spaceflight technologies. For more information, please visit the webpage: https://goo.gl/WHnOZg Or attend one of the webinars on this thematic call - April 11th and 18th, 16:00 (CET). Deadline for submitting proposals: 29th May

Quando o seu pai foi diagnosticado com uma doença debilitante, há quatro anos atrás, suscitou em Ivo Vieira uma vontade de desenvolver um novo meio de comunicação para as pessoas que lidam com limitações extremas, elaborando a partir de uma tecnologia originalmente explorada para ajudar os astronautas da ESA no espaço. A esclerose lateral amiotrófica - ELA - e outras formas de doenças neuronais motoras, “roubam” de forma progressiva os que sofrem desta doença da sua função muscular, incluindo a capacidade de comunicar verbalmente. No entanto, o movimento do olho apresenta uma oportunidade porque geralmente permanece ileso. “Trabalhávamos na realidade aumentada para os astronautas desde 2005; então, quando o meu pai foi diagnosticado, eu tive a ideia de explorá-la para melhorar a sua qualidade de vida com um novo sistema de comunicação móvel”, disse Ivo Vieira, CEO da LusoSpace. Esta aplicação da ESA levou a LusoSpace a produzir o seu primeiro par de óculos de realidade aumentada em 2008 e, em seguida, a criar a empresa LusoVu para desenvolvê-los para os deficientes. Os óculos EyeSpeak detetam o movimento dos olhos através de um teclado virtual exibido no interior das suas lentes. As palavras e as frases soletradas pelo usuário são traduzidas pelo programa informático incorporado e faladas por alto-falantes num braço. Os óculos também permitem que o usuário navegue na Internet, assista a vídeos e aceda a correios eletrónicos de forma privada, já que apenas o usuário vê o que está a ser projetado dentro da lente. No entanto, como a informação digital é sobreposta na lente, os usuários ainda podem ver o que está a acontecer ao seu redor. “Este é o primeiro dispositivo que é autónomo e pode ser usado em qualquer posição física e localização, independentemente da orientação da cabeça do usuário”, observou Teresa Nicolau, especialista EyeSpeak. Ferramentas de visualização para astronautas O EyeSpeak é um spin-off direto do trabalho que a LusoSpace desenvolveu para um estudo da ESA sobre ferramentas de visualização para astronautas. “Naquela época, os astronautas tinham apenas sistemas relativamente rudimentares disponíveis durante as caminhadas espaciais, com uma lista de verificação escrita no braço e comunicações de voz com controladores terrestres”, explicou João Pereira do Carmo da ESA. “Queríamos explorar as muitas tecnologias disponíveis que poderiam ser usadas para fornecer informações importantes e em tempo real, diretamente no seu campo de visão.” Ajuda a pessoas com limitações extremas de mobilidade e comunicação Os desenvolvimentos iniciais da tecnologia foram seguidos por uma campanha Kickstarter em 2014, que resultou em 45 unidades do protótipo EyeSpeak em 2015. O atual EyeSpeak 1, que foi colocado à venda em março de 2016, é baseado num par de óculos Epson BT-200 AR com uma unidade complementar de um microfone, alto-falantes e uma pequena câmara controlada por uma unidade microprocessadora. Vem com uma voz-padrão sintetizada ou a voz do proprietário com base em gravações feitas anteriormente. “Tudo sobre o desenvolvimento do EyeSpeak foi um desafio”, relatou Teresa. “Uma parte importante foi garantir que a configuração inicial não era perdida, por isso foi especialmente concebido para ficar fixo na cabeça do usuário, permitindo-lhe usá-lo de forma independente de imediato, assim que alguém o coloque e o ligue. “Também era importante que pudesse ser usado em qualquer condição de iluminação, incluindo no exterior e próximo de janelas, por isso temos lentes de filtro opcionais que podem ser adicionadas, bem como um suporte para lentes corretivas.” Normalmente, demora duas semanas para aprender o sistema quando se pratica durante uma hora por dia. Um usuário disse que o sistema oferece “autonomia e alegria”. Um porta-voz da ELA observou que “dá de volta às pessoas a sua independência e o seu direito humano de se comunicar livremente.” Sobre potenciais atualizações, Nicolau acrescenta: “Podemos desenvolvê-lo para permitir aos usuários controlar a sua cadeira de rodas e outras coisas ao seu redor, como o ar condicionado ou o seu televisor.” “Temos vindo a trabalhar com a LusoSpace e a LusoVu através da Iniciativa Nacional de Transferência de Tecnologia em Portugal, para explorar os mercados a jusante das tecnologias de sistemas de visualização, como monitores montados na cabeça”, explicou Carlos Cerqueira, diretor de inovação da IPN Portugal, parte da rede de programas de transferência de tecnologia da ESA, ajudando as empresas a desenvolver tecnologia espacial. “O potencial para esta tecnologia é enorme. Uma ideia é para armazéns de logística, onde monitores montados na cabeça melhorariam substancialmente a produtividade dos trabalhadores no processo de seleção. “Mas o EyeSpeak, com o impacto que tem sobre as vidas humanas, é provavelmente o mais importante de todos.” A realidade aumentada ainda não é usada pelos astronautas, mas o seu estudo inspirou diretamente o desenvolvimento do EyeSpeak. “Tudo o que a LusoVu está a fazer começou a partir desse projeto original da ESA”, sublinha Rui Semide, da LusoVu. “As nossas aplicações são muito diferentes, mas tudo começou com aquele estudo inicial da ESA sobre ferramentas de visualização de informação para os astronautas, o que nos tornou conscientes do potencial desta tecnologia.” Credits: European Space Agency (http://www.esa.int/por/ESA_in_your_country/Portugal/Estudo_para_astronautas_da_voz_a_pessoas_com_deficiencia)

The second call for Kick-start Activities is dedicated to the theme "Automated Road Transport", and was just launched! It is open to ideas for services addressed to local authorities, infrastructure/road operators, public transport operators, logistics companies, private drivers, fleet operators and other relevant stakeholders in this sector. Such services can cover topics as: • Managing a network of automated road vehicles • Monitoring automated trucks driving system • Providing optimal decision support systems for automated road transport from big data analytics and optimisation • Resilience of the automated road transport to cyber attacks on vehicles and infrastructure Kick-start Activities elaborate the business opportunity and the technical viability of new applications and services exploiting one or more space assets (e.g. Satellite Communications, Satellite Navigation, Earth Observation, Human Space Flight Technology). The closing date is 24 April 2017. For more information and submission please visit https://goo.gl/78oHaN

ESA has launched an opportunity to offer funding and support to companies for the business case assessment and development of new space enabled Internet of things (IoT) services that target relevant customer needs. This call is hosted under IAP ARTES Program - Integrated Applications Promotion (https://artes-apps.esa.int). Feasibility Studies resulting in compelling business cases will be eligible for additional funding support at follow-up IAP Demonstration Project. Dealine for submission: 13 April 2017 13:00 CET More info: bit.ly/2loFhZP

ESA - European Space Agency through the ARTES programme has announced new funding opportunity for applications ideas (http://bit.ly/2iJJRQ3) Kick-start Activities thematic Calls for Ideas to be launched soon in the first semester of 2017: 1) Outdoor tourism (opens 30 January, closes 13 March) 2) Automated road transport (opens 13 March, closes 24 April) 3) Ageing population (opens 24 April, closes 29 May) 4) Food security (opens 29 May, closes 10 July) IPN is the Portuguese Ambassador Platform for ESA's ARTES programme. Check out more at http://bit.ly/2g9rboJ

Enquadradas no âmbito do Programa ESA BIC Portugal e do projeto financiado pelo Centro 2020 “SIAC ESA BIC”, o Instituto Pedro Nunes lança oficialmente as “Bolsas para Jovens Empreendedores no Espaço”. Estas bolsas visam estimular o empreendedorismo e espírito empresarial de jovens que queiram desenvolver as suas ideias de negócio desde que relacionadas com o sector espacial. Os jovens empreendedores no espaço terão assim apoio financeiro para suportar o seu esforço no desenvolvimento das suas ideias de negócio inovadoras, bem como acompanhamento e ajuda no desenrolar dos seus projetos, num período de 6 a 12 meses. Sendo o projeto SIAC ESA BIC um projeto inovador e com grande potencial de criação de empregos e riqueza, e por estar totalmente alinhado com a estratégia de especialização inteligente do Centro de Portugal, é um projeto estratégico e diferenciador para o desenvolvimento da Região, e da economia do espaço em Portugal. Regulamento das Bolsas para Empreendedores no espaço: https://goo.gl/8qHtsm Formulário de candidatura: https://goo.gl/DPGNLS Para mais informações, contactar a equipa ESA BIC Portugal, através do email space@ipn.pt. O Projeto ESA BIC - Promoção da economia do espaço e apoio no programa de incubação da Agência Espacial Europeia na Região Centro é co-financiado pelo Centro 2020, Portugal 2020 e União Europeia, através do Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional.

The European Space Agency Incubation Center (ESA) in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal), managed by the Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), celebrates its second anniversary on November 23rd. ESA BIC Portugal is one of the sixteen European centers that support startups using technologies and other space assets, such as satellite imagery or data, in non-spatial industrial and commercial uses in areas as diverse as health, energy, transport, security and life Urban, among others. In the first two years of activity, the program already hosts 12 startups. In the total of its 5 years of activity - estimated duration of the program in Portugal - ESA BIC Portugal expects to incubate up to 30 companies that will allow the creation of around 240 new jobs, with a total impact exceeding 6.5 million Euros . ESA BIC Portugal represents a direct investment in Portugal of € 1,950,000 (one million, nine hundred and fifty thousand Euros). The program is led by IPN and has poles in the Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto (UPTEC) and in the agency DNA Cascais. The ESA BIC Portugal Anniversary event will be held at IPN (building D - Accelerator) on November 23, 2015 at 4:00 pm, with the presence of the European Space Agency, program partners and startups. We would like to confirm your presence by e-mail space@ipn.pt, as soon as possible

De 5 a 9 de Setembro de 2016, no Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra. O Espaço traz oportunidades científicas e de negócio? Que conhecimento, tecnologias e informação geram as missões do Espaço? Podemos criar novos serviços ou produtos para outras áreas utilizando os recursos do Espaço? Na Coimbra Space Summer School vamos explorar o Mundo utilizando o Espaço! O que é? A Coimbra Space Summer School é uma escola de Verão de 5 dias onde empreendedores, estudantes ou investigadores exploram uma ideia de negócio em torno do Espaço. A ideia é aproveitar conhecimento, tecnologias e recursos gerados nas missões espaciais e nas actividades científicas de exploração do Espaço para conceber negócios para outras áreas: cidades inteligentes, transportes, turismo e lazer, saúde e bem-estar, agricultura, ambiente, media, etc.. Quem procuramos? Estudantes finalistas de Licenciatura, estudantes de Mestrado, investigadores ou docentes com interesse em explorar as potencialidades do Espaço a nível científico e de negócio, com ideias sobre como o Espaço pode melhorar o nosso dia-a-dia, criar serviços ou produtos novos e/ou inovadores! E vontade de as explorar! O que vamos fazer? Sessões sobre o espaço e sessões mais orientadas ao aproveitamento de oportunidades de negócio com tecnologias do espaço, com a presença de oradores convidados com o Coordenador na ESA do programa ESA BIC Portugal, Niels Eldering, e diversos empresários, investigadores e investidores. Haverá também a apresentação final de projectos à comunidade científica e empresarial, em torno da transferência de tecnologia do Espaço e aplicações terrestres. Pelo meio, uma “Febrada Astronómica”, visitas ao Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra e uma sessão de observação nocturna! Onde e Quando? A Coimbra Space Summer School decorrerá nos dias 5 a 9 de Setembro de 2016, nas instalações do Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra, sito na margem esquerda do Rio Mondego, na Vila de Santa Clara (lugar de Almas de Freire). O horário previsto para as sessões será o seguinte: 9h30 às 13h e das 14h às 17h30, incluindo almoço durante todo o evento e networking entre os participantes, organização, formadores e demais convidados da organização. A Coimbra Space Summer School é uma organização conjunta do Instituto Pedro Nunes (no contexto das atividades do programa ESA Business Incubation Centre - ESA BIC Portugal e Plataforma Embaixadora do programa de Telecomunicações e Aplicações Integradas) e do Observatório Geofísico e Astronómico da Universidade de Coimbra, em colaboração com a Agência Espacial Europeia e o Gabinete do Espaço da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. Mais informação em http://spacesummerschool.ipn.pt/ Para informações adicionais por favor contacte-nos através de space@ipn.pt ou 239700900 (Carlos Cerqueira ou Inês Plácido).

The European Space Agency (ESA) is now inviting entrepreneurs to submit innovative ideas to the Earth Observation Entrepreneurship Initiative (EOEI) Call until 19 June 2016 12:00 CET! The Call aims to attract new players to the world of Earth Observation from space and support innovative ideas using Earth Observation (EO) data that can turn grand challenges of our society, emerging business needs and advances in digital technologies into new growth opportunities for Europe. ESA plans to award up to 50 Innovation Vouchers worth 15,000 EURO enabling the selected applicants to procure data, tools and specific expertise and services to refine their idea and prototype products both on a technical and business model point of view. It is to be noted that this Call is directed specifically to new players and is fully complementary to other existing competitions (e.g. Copernicus Masters, App camps), as it addresses the pre-incubation phase, thereby bridging the feasibility gap between ideas and the incubation of new companies. More information: http://esa-eoei.org/

Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) was invited by the European Commission to present their best practices in coordinating the Incubation Center of European Space Agency in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal) during the 2nd Finance Workshop Space Economy, held on 3 May in Brussels. Launched in 2014 end, the ESA BIC Portugal is one of 16 current ESA incubators at European level. In this structure are supported startups to implement proven technology in space in sectors such as health, transport, energy, security and urban life. The 2nd Finance Workshop Space Economy brought together representatives of the European Commission, the European Space Agency and Airbus, as well as investors and incubators. The initiative intended to discuss new ways to finance the growing boom in space startups that has taken place mainly in the United States and Europe, from SME finance programs to the emergence of specialized investment funds for the space industry. In addition to the ESA BIC Portugal, ESA BIC UK was also chosen to present their experience in business incubation in the space area. So far, the ESA BIC Portugal has supported 11 startups. In the next five years - duration of the program - provides incubate 30 companies that will create about 240 new jobs and ability to raise capital of 6.5 million euros. The ESA BIC Portugal is a direct investment in Portugal of € 1,950,000 (one million nine hundred and fifty thousand euros) in five years. This program is led by the IPN and has poles in UPTEC and DNA Cascais Agency. The ESA BIC Portugal has the support of the Space Office (FCT / ANI) and other stakeholders, such as CCDRC, universities, municipalities and investors and was considered of strategic importance to Portugal, which is why the Government through the FCT, It has invested significant resources in this area.

Launch your business with Big Data from Space! The leading innovation platform for commercial Earth observation applications is awarding prizes to innovative solutions for business and society. SIGN UP 2016 - From 15 April to 18 July Access to www.copernicus-masters.com

MOSTRA QUE A CIDADE DOS ESTUDANTES TEM UM NOVO PROFESSOR. BIG smart cities by Vodafone Power Lab e Ericsson é uma competição de ideias para negócios de base tecnológica que melhorem o dia-a-dia de quem vive, trabalha ou visita uma cidade. Este ano, o BIG smart cities ficou mais BIG ainda, e evoluiu para uma amplitude nacional, com as cidades do Porto, Coimbra, Évora e Lisboa a promoverem eventos locais: os BIG city challenges. Assim, durante o mês de Abril, vamos procurar 4 equipas nestas 4 cidades, para se juntarem aos 20 finalistas que vão poder desenvolver as suas ideias num programa de pré-aceleração. Faz-te BIG, prepara o teu pitch, inscreve-te e vem aproveitar os BIG city challenges para melhorares o teu projeto. Além da possibilidade de teres acesso direto ao grupo de 20 finalistas BIG smart cities e de ganhares o prize money de 500 euros, terás a oportunidade de aperfeiçoares o teu modelo de negócio, através de mentoring no dia do challenge. Marca já na tua agenda: o BIG city challenge @ Coimbra é no dia 21 de Abril no Instituto Pedro Nunes às 14h. Vais ficar a olhar para o Mondego ou vens mudar o mundo? 3 COISAS QUE PRECISAS DE SABER SOBRE O BIG SMART CITIES: 1. Este ano tens 2 formas de candidatar-te: através do formulário disponível no site bigsmartcities.com e/ou participando num dos eventos BIG city challenges a decorrer no Porto, Coimbra, Évora e Lisboa. 2. A tua ideia deve enquadrar-se numa das seguintes áreas de oportunidade: Smart Living (Qualidade de vida, Energia, Saúde, Educação), Smart Mobility, Smart Tourism e Smart Government. 3. De entre os 20 finalistas BIG smart sities, será selecionado um vencedor que recebe 10.000 euros, 6 meses de incubac?a?o no Vodafone Power Lab e uma viagem para conhecer um polo de inovação da Ericsson na Europa. Tens alguma dúvida? Então aparece numa das sessões de esclarecimento que vamos anunciando no Facebook ou envia-nos um e-mail para hello@bigsmartcities.com. PENSA BIG. PENSA SMART. INSCREVE­-TE EM BIGSMARTCITIES.COM Mais informação em: bigsmartcities.com https://www.facebook.com/BIGsmartcities https://twitter.com/BIGsmartcities

The deadlines to submit proposals for ESA BIC Portugal in 2016 are the following (PT time): - 1st February - 18th May - 12th October The application documents are available at: http://space.ipn.pt/pages/open_call Startup? Start now! For more information, contact us at space@ipn.pt!

The 1st anniversary of ESA’s Business Incubation Centre in Portugal was commemorated in November 19 at the Pedro Nunes Institute with a presentation of results and startups supported so far, and a space cake, of course! The Business Incubation Centre of the European Space Agency in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal), coordinated by Instituto Pedro Nunes, was released in late 2014, being one of the 13 current ESA incubators in Europe. Up today, ESA BIC Portugal has selected six startups (Active Aerogels, Airborne Projects, D-Orbit PT, Eye2Map, InanoE and Space Layer Technologies), and less than half a year, it has already reached the goals set for the first year. In the five-year period - duration of the program - the ESA BIC Portugal provides incubate 30 companies that will create about 240 new jobs and raise an expected capital ofg € 6.5 million. The ESA BIC Portugal is a direct investment in Portugal of € 1,950,000 (one million nine hundred and fifty thousand euros) in five years. This program is led by the IPN and has poles in UPTEC and DNA Cascais agency. The ESA BIC Portugal has the support of the Portuguese Space Office (FCT / ANI) and other stakeholders, such as CCDRC, universities, municipalities and investors. In the anniversary, we had representative of the European Space Agency (ESA), Pedro Nunes (IPN), National Innovation Agency (ANI / Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Science and Technology Park, University of Porto (UPTEC ), DNA Cascais and Coordination Center and Regional Development Commission (CCDRC).

On the occasion of the 1st anniversary of the Business Incubation Center of the European Space Agency in Portugal, it takes place on 19 November, Thursday, at 17:00, at the Instituto Pedro Nunes, in Coimbra, a presentation event of the results of this project and firms that will be supported in the next two years. The Business Incubation Centre of the European Space Agency in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal), coordinated by Pedro Nunes Institute, was released in late 2014, being one of the 13 current ESA BICs in Europe. ESA BICs supports startups applying technology developed for the space in sectors such as health, transport, energy, safety and urban life.

With the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) and in the scope of the activities of ESA Business Incubation Centre in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal), IPN will host an "Investment Readiness Training" facilitated by Rick Salmon. Message by Rick: "If you are an early-­stage entrepreneur who will either need funding now or in the future, then you will need help. You can try to figure it out on your own or you can learn from people who have already done this successfully. To succeed you will need to work your own network and you will need to tap into other people’s networks. You will also need some special communication skills if you are going to be able to connect quickly, make a lasting good first impression and then be able to persuade investors to support your company’s growth. If you have a sense of urgency about this, then you cannot afford to wait or leave this to chance. Many entrepreneurs fail because they don’t get the help they need at the time that they need it most. Take advantage of a unique offer. The Investment Readiness Programme (IRP) has been designed to quickly and effectively teach you some of the tools necessary in order to obtain funding and grow your business. Great entrepreneurs are usually serial entrepreneurs. They learn the rules of the game and they are most often successful in raising capital again and again. Wouldn’t you like to learn some of these skills? The IRP will provide you with the opportunity to learn and to benefit from other’s experience and networks. My name is Rick Salmon and I will be your facilitator and the leader for this exciting programme. I am an experienced serial entrepreneur and have built a number of successful technology startup companies over the past 20 years. The ESA Investment Readiness Programme offers the very best of what I have learned as an entrepreneur. When clients retain me as a startup consultant they’re actually paying for two basic things, experience and innovation. Experience can be gained in only two ways, through one’s own situations or by learning about other’s situations. Innovation however, is a method of thinking. During the Investment Readiness Programme I want to share from my own experiences and perhaps bring in other special guests and experts who will share from their own experience. I will attempt to help the participants to become more innovative thinkers in approaching their own startup situations. I encourage you to join this exciting Programme. I will take-?on the personal challenge of doing whatever I can to discover how to help you and how to make your company succeed." The training targets ESA BIC Portugal startups and intends to generate important benefits for the entrepreneurs: get the business ready for investors and customers; clarify the company’s Unique Selling Proposition; learn to communicate your value in a brief but powerful way; create a 15-­second elevator pitch for power/speed networking; prepare, present and perfect an 8-­minute investor presentation; learn how to speed-­up your overall business development cycle.

Closing date: 31/12/2015 More information at https://artes-apps.esa.int/opportunities/intended-tender/animal-tracking-space

The Ambassador Platform for Portugal, managed by IPN, and ESA invite the space and non-space communities to attend a workshop on ESA ARTES Applications opportunities, including the topics of megaconstellations and funding schemes. Date and time: 28 Oct 2015, 10h-12h30 Venue: Ciência Viva, Pavilhão do Conhecimento, Lisboa, Portugal Agenda: Morning: 10:00 ESA ARTES Programme overview, Luís Serina, Space Office 10:15 ESA ARTES Application programmes (ARTES 3-4 / ARTES 20) Norbert Huebner, European Space Agency (ESA) 10:45 Megaconstellations, Cyril Michel, European Space Agency (ESA) 11:05 The Portuguese Ambassador Platform (Support to the national community) Inês Plácido, Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) 11:25 Experience in ARTES 20 projects, Testimonies of Space companies 12:15 Questions & Answers Afternoon: Bilateral meetings with ESA ARTES representatives about ARTES applications and ARTES space/ground segment can be requested via space@ipn.pt and will be held in the afternoon of the event. Registration: http://www.gppq.fct.pt/h2020/eventos.php?id=4101 For queries, please contact: space@ipn.pt or 239700900

"É uma comunidade jovem e pequena, mas faz parte da elite mundial na investigação aeroespacial e constitui um dos nossos melhores "produtos" de exportação. Quinze anos depois da adesão de Portugal à ESA e ao ESO, os méritos destes estudantes, cientistas, engenheiros e comunicadores são observáveis a olho nu. Mas o financiamento é curto e não há um plano de acção delineado. Até onde podemos ir?" Notícia completa em: http://p3.publico.pt/node/18032/

Please consider the new writing of Part 3. Documents and items to be produced/delivered, replacing the contents of the same part on page 9/16 of the issued Conditions to Tender and Management Requirements.

"A tecnologia usada propõe-se ajudar a preparar missões tripuladas a outros planetas que venham a ser calendarizadas, fornecendo o máximo de informação sobre esses planetas" Notícia completa em: http://sicnoticias.sapo.pt/pais/2015-09-01-Portugal-lidera-consorcio-que-vai-testar-tecnologia-para-explorar-planetas

Stimulating terrestrial applications using space assets (satcom or combined space assets), IPN, FCT and ANACOM jointly launch an open call that funds 25k€ to build a solid outline proposal to ESA ARTES 20 and ARTES 3-4 calls! All information available at: http://space.ipn.pt/pages/artes_call For any questions, please contact space@ipn.pt or 239 700 922

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Technology Transfer programme Office (TTPO) has opened a call for proposals for Technology Transfer Demonstrator projects, directed specifically towards the determination and elimination of technical risk in the use of existing space technologies for new terrestrial applications. These projects involve the development and testing of new hardware and software from European space programmes which increase the likelihood of the core technology being transferred from space to ground. ESA will make a contribution of up to €40,375 to the cost of each successfully selected proposal. More information: https://sa.catapult.org.uk/esattp15#

Call for digital technologies: connecting people and creating communities The Institute for Sustainability, in partnership with the Mayor of London’s Office, has launched a challenge-led competition to encourage SMEs and entrepreneurs to come forward with technology that could help the capital’s major redevelopment projects cope with the demands of London’s growing population. More information: http://www.iveridis.com/?v=join&pID=CCA092A2-DF5C-C4D6-FDF79F619655E50C

LAUNCH YOUR BUSINESS WITH BIG DATA FROM SPACE Earth observation and the big data it produces can help countless innovative products and services really take off. SUBMISSIONS ARE WELCOME IN ANY RELEVANT APPLICATION FIELD, INCLUDING: Agriculture, Rescue/Emergency, Environment, Marine, Mobile Apps, Energy, Smart Cities and Transport/Logistics SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 13th July 2015 For more information: http://www.copernicus-masters.com/

Take a peek at the video about the ESA App Camp 2015! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grlJjg4Wifo&feature=youtu.be Congrats to the EcoFit Portuguese team!

Está aberto o iGEO - Mentes Criativas, um concurso que premeia a criatividade nacional na utilização de informação geográfica através de aplicações móveis, promovido pelo Ministério do Ambiente, Ordenamento do Território e Energia (MAOTE), através da Direção-Geral do Território, e que conta com o patrocínio da Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento (FLAD). A aplicação vencedora receberá um prémio no valor total de 4.000 dólares e o segundo e terceiro lugar receberão prémios no valor de 2.500 dólares e 1.000 dólares, respetivamente, prémios que são patrocinados pela FLAD. Destinado a pessoas coletivas ou singulares, maiores de 18 anos e residentes em Portugal, o iGEO - Mentes Criativas visa fomentar a utilização e a informação geográfica disponível em aplicações móveis, premiando as melhores propostas ao nível de inovação, funcionalidade, design, usabilidade e desempenho, bem como na promoção dos vários temas georreferenciados e disponibilizados no portal iGEO. O iGEO (http://www.igeo.pt) é uma iniciativa do MAOTE que pretende colocar os dados geográficos de referência da administração pública ao serviço da sociedade e, assim, promover a criação de novos produtos e serviços de elevado valor acrescentado suportados por modelos de conhecimento intensivo. Os dados a disponibilizar, no âmbito desta iniciativa, terão como principais destinatários a administração pública, as instituições de ensino e de investigação, as Organizações Não Governamentais e também as empresas privadas. Os proponentes poderão consultar todas as informações em http://www.igeo.pt/DadosAbertos/InscricaoConcurso.aspx e apresentar a sua candidatura até às 23h59, do dia 15 de abril de 2015. Para eventuais dúvidas ou pedidos de esclarecimentos contate a Direção-Geral do Território através de concurso_apps@igeo.pt

The call for proposals for ESA BIC Portugal is now open! The call will be permanently open and four evaluations will take place each year in the next 5 years. The next submission deadline is 2nd of February! The incubatees of ESA BIC Portugal, either in Coimbra (with IPN), Cascais (with DNA Cascais) or Porto (with UPTEC) will benefit from 50.000€ for prototype/product/service development and management and acquisition of intellectual property, alongside with business support and 80h of technical support. Launch your business with Space at ESA BIC Portugal! For more information, please contact: space@ipn.pt

ESA App Camp has joined forces with SAP! The ESA App Camp is inviting app developers to unique events where they can meet with like-minded people and tackle some of the world's greatest challenges. Those interested can join in by attending one of the six Appathons being held at ESA BIC and partner locations across Europe on 24-25 Jan 2015, namely in Coimbra (Portugal). The ESA App Camp is organised by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO) on behalf of the European Space Agency and sponsored by SAP University Alliances. It is furthermore supported by awesome partners in six countries to make the pre-selection Appathons a great experience! The winning team of each local Appathon will be invited to the ESA App Camp in Barcelona culminating at the Mobile World Congress. Registration is open until 19 Jan 2015 at www.app-camp.eu!

Research, innovation and technology in radio program led by Edgar Canelas. This time it was ESA BIC Portugal who was on the spotlight, in the November emission. http://www.rtp.pt/play/p383/e173753/os-dias-do-futuro

During the 5th Portuguese Space Forum, held on November 5th, was launched the ESA Business Incubation Centre in Portugal (ESA BIC Portugal), which will support Portuguese companies that implement space technology in sectors such as health, transport, security, or energy. Over the next five years, the 30 companies supported by ESA BIC Portugal can access a total investment value of 1,5 million euros, raise capital of around 7 million euros, and are expected to create more than 120 new jobs. The ESA BIC Portugal is managed by Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) and implemented in collaboration with Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto and DNA Cascais. In addition, ESA BIC Portugal will count on multiple local, regional and national partners (business experts, technical experts from higher education institutions – namely the University of Coimbra and the University of Porto). The launch of ESA BIC Portugal was attended by Franco Ongaro, ESA Director D-TEC, Teresa Mendes, President of IPN, João Gabriel, Rector of the University of Coimbra, Pedro Carneiro, Vice President of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, António Pires de Lima, Portuguese Minister of the Economy, and Nuno Crato, Portuguese Minister of Education and Science. Carlos Cerqueira, Head of Innovation at IPN said that “ESA BIC Portugal has unique characteristics since it promotes the creation of startups based on state-of-the-art technologies tested in Space applications, providing these new companies with the potential to create disruptive innovations tailored for the global markets”. Teresa Mendes, President of IPN, added that “the ESA BIC and Ambassador Platform in Portugal contribute to further accomplish IPN’s mission to support the technology transfer process and to stimulate the creation of new economic activity and skilled jobs in Portugal”. Click here to see the presentation! http://www.slideshare.net/xysto/esa-bic-and-ambassador-platform-in-portugal-051114

The French-Dutch-Norwegian start-up company EATOPS provides advanced tools and systems to monitor remote gas and oil offshore installations. The system RIVOPS uses techniques and methodologies that have been proven successful for spacecraft control at ESA. Here the entrepreneur and co-inventor of the EATOPS' RIVOPS Alexandre Van Damme presents the business. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Technology/Business_Incubation/Entrepreneurs_introduce_their_businesses_br_EATOPS

The Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO) seeks entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for using space technologies or developing applications, to create new products and services in a non-space environment. ESA’s Business Incubation Centres (BICs), initiated by ESA's Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO), work to inspire entrepreneurs to turn space-connected business ideas into commercial companies, and provide technical expertise and business-development support. Our Business Incubation Centres across European countries support selected entrepreneurs with comprehensive commercial and technical assistance to help them start up businesses that apply space technology to non-space industrial, scientific and commercial fields. ESA BICs help to create viable businesses and new jobs by providing support to more than 75 companies every year in Europe, and more than 200 start-ups companies have received support to date. More info at http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Technology/Business_Incubation/

From Space to Earth. European Space Agency will launch incubator for Portuguese companies. More on Observador (in portuguese). http://observador.pt/2014/10/28/tecnologia-espaco-na-terra-agencia-espacial-europeia-vai-lancar-incubadora-para-empresas-portuguesas/

The European Space Agency announced the creation of a business incubator in Portugal - ESA BIC Portugal - to be presented next week. More on Dinheiro Vivo (in portuguese) http://www.dinheirovivo.pt/Faz/interior.aspx?content_id=4206218

Instituto Pedro Nunes will install a business incubator of the European Space Agency (ESA) in the country. The new incubator will support 30 companies over the next five years. More on Exame Informática (in portuguese) http://exameinformatica.sapo.pt/noticias/mercados/2014-10-28-Agencia-Espacial-Europeia-vai-lancar-incubadora-em-Portugal