3rd ESA Security Conference

While ESA’s 1st Security Conference positioned ESA as a key security contributor and its 2nd Security Conference connected security users with space providers, this third edition aims at reinforcing and expanding the necessary relations between space and security communities, institutional frameworks, and resources.

14-15 April 2025 Warsaw, Poland
Concept Note

Background

Space is becoming a prerequisite for ensuring Europe’s preparedness and resilience. The 3rd ESA Security Conference will put the spotlight on the dynamic space ecosystems of ESA Member States and supporting further integration of space and security communities, governance frameworks, and resources.

As the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union unfolds under the motto “Security, Europe”, the conference will highlight the critical role of space and emerging technologies as well as governance and financial frameworks in shaping European security and competitiveness. By gathering high-level representatives from across the continent, the occasion will support charting Europe’s course in space activities in support of Europe’s security.

By fully leveraging its diverse space ecosystem, ESA and its Member States, alongside the EU and other European stakeholders can further support European resilience and resolve in face of today’s security crises. Join us in Warsaw and help build a strong basis for future cooperation and a common purpose.

Day 1: 14 April 2025

13:45-14:30 Opening Session, Day 1

  • 13:45-14:00 Pascal Legai, Senior Advisor to ESA Director General, European Space Agency
  • 14:00-14:15 Krzysztof Paszyk, Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Poland
  • 14:15-14:30 H. Ludwig Moeller, Director, European Space Policy Insitute

15:00-16:15 Panel I: Innovative Investment Mechanisms in Space & Security

Recently, the EIB Group has updated its lending policy concerning dual use goods in a final push by President Nadia Calviño to bolster European defence industry through public financing. Last July, the EIB Group and the NATO Innovation Fund agreed to cooperate to unlock funding and crowd-in additional private capital for Europe’s defence and security future. European industry caters both space and security communities alike. With increasing budgetary pressure in Member States and considering a sustained political and industrial focus on Europe’s collective security, new and innovative schemes and inter-institutional partnerships must be elaborated to enable the space and security programmes of the future.

Thematic Speaker

Renato Krpoun, Head, Swiss Space Office

Panelists

  • Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky, Partner, NATO Innovation Fund
  • Rafal Modrzewski, CEO, ICEYE
  • Luca del Monte, Head of Commercialization Services Department, European Space Agency
  • Wojtek Walniczek, Partner, OTB Venture
  • TBD: Representative of the European Investment Bank

Moderator

Matija Rencelj, Research Manager, European Space Policy Institute

 

 

16:45-17:00 Keynote Speech

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO Secretary General and Founder, Rasmussen Global

 

17:00-18:15 Panel II: Industry & Innovation for Europe's Deepening Security Requirements

With the surge of new technologies, such as AI and cyberdefence, the space sector can be expected to be revolutionised, developing new market opportunities along the way, alongside risks of increased strategic dependence. The session aims at addressing innovation dynamics and industrial developments in the space domain that are increasingly relevant for the continent’s collective security and explore ways to reduce the acute innovation gap identified in Europe.

Panelists

  • Michel Van Strythem, Head of Cyber Command, Belgium
  • Massimo Comparini, Managing Director Space Business Unit, Leonardo
  • Michał Wiercinski, Head of Technology Innovation, European Defence Agency

Moderator

Christopher Leigh Topping, Acting Manager of the CSS Programme, European Space Agency

18:30-18:45: Closing Address

18:30-18:45 Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Observation Programmes, European Space Agency

Day 2: 15 April 2025

9:30-9:40 Opening Session, Day 2

  • 9:30-9:40 Pascal Legai, Senior Advisor to ESA Director General, European Space Agency

9:40-10:00 Keynote Speech

  • 9:40-10:00 Enrico Letta, former Prime Minister of Italy and EU Rapporteur on Future of the Single Market

10:00-10:45 Fireside Chat: Defining Future Space Security Governmental Frameworks

This session will build on the evolution of space politics and the return of security aspects to it. While other international actors, such as the United States, China, and Russia, perceive space as a security domain, Europe needs to prepare to incorporate space security in its frameworks in order to ensure European strategic autonomy.

11:15-11:30 Keynote Speech

11:15-11:30 Sophie Lavaux, Governor for Crisis Management in the Brussels Region

 

 

11:30-13:00 Panel III: Next Generation Space Capabilities for European Crisis Response and Resilience

At present, space-based capabilities, such as GNSS, satcom, and EO, are already making significant contributions to prevention, mitigation, and response operations related to civil security, disaster management, and natural or man-made crisis events. The panel will note, however, that space systems are mostly developed with an emphasis on data acquisition or commercial use. This session shall reflect on the unfolding urgencies that call for further effort to develop a more performant and integrated space segment, embedded with innovative ground systems to allow Europe to more effectively mitigate and respond to crises, including security-related risks.

Thematic Speaker

Grzegorz Wrochna, President, Polish Space Agency

Panelists

  • Jorge Farré Basurte, Deputy Director, EU Satellite Centre
  • Jakub Ryzenko, Crisis Information Centre, Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences
  • Ella Carlsson, Director General, Swedish National Space Agency
  • Juan Carlos Cortés Pulido, Director, Spanish Space Agency
  • Laurent Jaffart, Director of Connectivity & Secure Communications, European Space Agency

Moderator

Giulia Pavesi, Research Fellow, European Space Policy Institute

 

13:00-13:30 Closing Session: Reflections & Future Directions

Final Keynote

13:00-13:15 Christophe Grudler, Member of the European Parliament

Closing Address

13:15-13:30 Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency

Additional Information

Reach out to us at <ESAsecurityconference@espi.or.at>.

You can find the proceedings of the 2nd ESA Security Conference (May 2023) here.

Stay connected with us

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest news and updates.

"*" indicates required fields

Join our newsletter to receive the latest news and updates

"*" indicates required fields