The ESA CubeSat Industry Days serves as a forum to exchange information on the latest industry developments and future priorities and ESA activities in the CubeSat domain; to reflect on technology & mission roadmaps; as well as to discuss the technical & regulatory challenges (such as reliability and space debris mitigation requirements) facing the industry in sustaining further competitiveness and growth in this innovative and dynamic segment of the space sector.
The ESA CubeSat Industry Days started in 2013 and has been held every two years since then. The 6th edition took place in Leiden from 12-14 September 2023, attracting more than 320 participants from over 120 companies. The upcoming 7th edition is scheduled for 27-28 May 2025 and will be hosted at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam, as part of the SmallSat Europe Conference.
Since the last event, ESA CubeSat missions have reached new milestones, marked by the launch of the first two deep-space CubeSats as part of the HERA mission to orbit the Didymos binary asteroid, and the launch of Earth Observation technology and commercial demonstrator CubeSats for GNSS reflectometry and high-resolution imagery. Numerous CubeSat missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids and deep space are currently being studied, designed, or implemented through various ESA programmes, all supported by a range of new miniaturized technologies under development.
Within the Fly element of the ESA General Support Technology Programme (GSTP), CubeSats for high-precision astronomy, low Earth orbit constellations, close-proximity operations, and beyond-LEO missions are under design and development, with distributed and aggregated swarm IOD missions also under feasibility study for future implementation. CubeSats have become an integral part of the Agency's activities, extending beyond technology demonstration and education. Several CubeSats are currently under study, design, development, ready for flight, or have been launched within various ESA programmes. These include European Exploration Envelope Programme for Mars and Lunar exploration, Space Safety, ARTES for commercial telecommunications, InCubed for commercial Earth Observation, FutureEO (Scout) for Earth science, National EO/telecommunications constellations, and FutureNav for LEO-PNT demonstration. Additionally, the Boost! Programme is fostering the development & flight validation of a number of European micro-launchers set to launch in the near future to provide dedicated launch services for the CubeSat and small satellite market.
At the same time, through its IOD/IOV programme, the European Commission is continuing to utilise recurrent CubeSat platforms to support the frequent in-orbit demonstration of innovative European technologies & products, and several national space programmes in European countries have a significant number of CubeSat missions and/or technology developments underway.
Finally, a diverse array of compact payloads and high-performance subsystems from European industry is now enabling CubeSat missions to support scientific exploration and commercial ventures, addressing use cases that seemed unattainable just a decade ago. Completely new system architectures such as distributed or aggregated swarms are becoming possible, opening up the prospect of innovative mission concepts not achievable by single large monolithic spacecraft. The CubeSat market continues to expand rapidly, with the industry steadily growing as CubeSats secure a strong position within the broader space sector. This growth has driven increased adoption of CubeSat platforms by both government and commercial customers.
The ESA CubeSat Industry Days started in 2013 and has been held every two years since then. For 2025, Co-located with SmallSat Europe, the CubeSat Industry Days serves as a forum to exchange information on the latest developments and future priorities and the ESA activities in the CubeSat domain; reflect on technology & mission roadmaps; as well as to discuss the technical & regulatory challenges (such as reliability and space debris mitigation requirements) facing the industry in sustaining further competitiveness and growth in this innovative and dynamic segment of the space sector.