20 years of ESA BIC: 'Startups foresee the big trends in space'

The European space startup program ESA BIC is celebrating its 20th anniversary. What started with an experiment in the Netherlands grew into the largest network of space incubators in the world. Head of ESA BICs Niels Eldering was there from the beginning: 'In space, startups are indispensable.'

In space, there is always room for new talent. This is evident from the figures of the Business Incubation Centers of the European Space Agency ESA. Over 20 years, more than 1,700 startups from 22 different countries started their businesses at an ESA BIC facility. Niels Eldering experienced them all.
Head of ESA BIC

If you were to start a space startup yourself, what kind of company would it be?
'To be honest, I have to say that I would never start a startup myself. It takes a lot of focus, dedication and persistence for one idea. Instead, I get to work with a lot of different companies. I get to help them in the first stage of their development. That gives me the most satisfaction. You could even say: that is my vocation.

The very first ESA BIC was created in 2004 on the grounds of ESTEC in Noordwijk. What was the idea?
'Around the turn of the century you saw more and more startups popping up in Europe. ESA had had a knowledge transfer program for years, but that was focused on mature companies that wanted to bring technology from space to the market. That there needed to be a startup program was clear even then, but exactly how had yet to be figured out. So that's where I wrote my master's thesis in 2002 as a business administration student from Rotterdam. The idea was to set up an incubator that would select promising startups with different application ideas from the space industry. And then support them with business and technical knowledge. ESA was eager to try that itself. Thus was born ESA BIC Noordwijk in 2004.

What made the Netherlands the right breeding ground for such an incubation experiment?
'I think there are three reasons for that. First: standing on the shoulders of giants. At ESTEC in Noordwijk, we had been working on valorization since the 1990s: bringing knowledge and experience from space to the market. We could build on that with ESA BIC. Second, the Dutch government at the time had a very specific subsidy program, Subsidie Infrastructuur Technostarters (SIT), which stimulated the development of incubators. And finally, that subsidy had few restrictive conditions. For example, there was no obligation for startups to stay in the Netherlands after the first few years as well. This really allowed ESA BIC to be a testing ground for Europe, born of our spirit of trade and open economy. The idea was: you can do good business with the Netherlands, so come to us, start your company and let's do great things together. Then economic growth will come naturally.

It didn't stop at the Netherlands. What caused the rapid growth of ESA BIC in Europe?
'When ESA BIC Noordwijk became a success, other ESA sites wanted to try it too. ESOC in Darmstadt and ESRIN in Frascati started incubators in Germany and Italy, respectively, using the lessons we had learned in the Netherlands. In 2008, Germany's Bavaria showed that you don't necessarily need an ESA site to start a space incubator. The key ingredient is enough entrepreneurial talent in the region: people to collaborate with. The success of ESA BIC in Bavaria created the case needed to open the door to all of Europe.

What has the ESA BIC program achieved so far?
'We now have 30 incubators in 22 different countries. Together they have helped nearly 1,700 start-ups over the years. Of those companies, some 85 percent survived the first three to five years. Even more interesting than the rapid growth we have experienced is understanding what ingredients you need to start successful ventures in space. That's what we'll be researching in the coming years, in collaboration with business administration faculties such as those at the Rotterdam School of management at Erasmus University.'

The world is changing rapidly. How has ESA BIC changed over the years?
'Startups are the pioneers of the economy. They are often just a little ahead of the rest of the market because they foresee major trends and developments. In the 20 years of ESA BIC's existence, you saw three major developments. The first generation of startups brought hardware from space to other sectors, such as healthcare and logistics. The second generation saw the great promise of European satellite programs like Galileo and Copernicus. Even before the satellites were launched, they paved the way for commercial use scenarios. They started working on satellite applications for our society. The current generation focuses on 'newspace': they build rockets, satellites or components of them for a rapidly growing, international space economy.

What role does the NSO play in the ESA BIC story?
'The NSO supports the ESA BIC program in the Netherlands with funds from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and for that reason alone plays an indispensable role. But we also work extremely closely together in terms of content. NSO specialists, together with local partners and ESA, are involved in the selection of companies that can join the incubator in Noordwijk. They look at opportunities in Europe as well as the national space strategy.

What makes space such an attractive field for startups?
'The idealistic approach is that space connects. In the end, we are all just people on a little blue ball in the big universe. We have to work together to not only survive in that universe, but to move forward as humanity, as a society. Startups are naturally good at working together. On the other hand, space is a very competitive market. It is a market that is about pushing boundaries, wanting to be first, coming up with innovations. This field of tension, working together and being competitive, leads to a dynamic world that is never boring.

What does the next twenty years look like for ESA BIC?
'In the coming years, space knowledge and a good network will become even more important. I expect more involvement from ESA because it has the knowledge needed to develop hardware for space travel. And that is what many startups will be doing. Initially, much of the focus will be on satellite communications networks. In the further future also to production activities in low Earth orbit, for example of solar energy. For this you need shuttle services, charging stations, new interconnection systems. Startups will come up with brilliant ideas to develop all this. And a lot of them will start at ESA BIC.'