ESA Phi-LabNET Spain’s Advisory Board holds its first meeting at the IEEC headquarters
Today, the ESA Phi-LabNET Spain Advisory Board held its first meeting. The event, held at the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), in Castelldefels (Barcelona), gathered key representatives from European and national space institutions, research centres, industry, and public administrations to discuss the progress of Phi-Lab Spain and its future directions.
The meeting was chaired by Josep Colomé, Director of the Area for the Promotion of the Space Sector of Catalonia (APEC) at the IEEC and the session was facilitated by Pepa Sedó (Head of Development and Innovation Office of the same centre) and Estel Blay (Programme Manager, also from the IEEC).
Phi-LabNET Spain is an initiative of ESA’s ScaleUp Programme, designed to accelerate the commercialisation of space and foster the growth of private investment in the space sector.
The programme is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities through the Spanish Space Agency (AEE) and by the Government of Catalonia in the framework of the NewSpace Strategy of Catalonia.
The IEEC is the coordinator of the initiative, awarded in September 2024, that involves a big consortium of universities and research and innovation centres. These are the i2CAT Foundation, the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia (ICGC), Fundación General CSIC, KIMbcn, ARRIBES Enlightenment, University of Valencia (UVEG), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC), Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), Ricardo Valle Institute of Innovation (IRV), ESA MELiSSA Pilot Plant at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), and the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO).
Agenda for the day
The programme of the meeting began with welcome and opening remarks by Josep Colomé, who acknowledged the participation of the Advisory Board, highlighting “the importance of institutional collaboration to maximise impact and foster synergies. Initiatives like Phi-Lab open up new opportunities to drive innovation and to strengthen the role of space technologies in addressing today’s challenges.”
This was followed by the introduction of Advisory Board members, during which each participant presented their institution and shared a short reflection on space innovation and climate resilience. Afterwards, Pepa Sedó and Estel Blay provided an overview of ESA Phi-LabNET Spain and a review of the 2024/2025 achievements, highlighting the launch of the first open call, the announcement of the four selected projects, key milestones, participation in events, and plans for the next call.
The meeting concluded with a strategic discussion on lessons learned and the way forward, an interactive exchange where members reflected on challenges, ecosystem engagement, emerging trends, opportunities for partnerships, and provided recommendations to strengthen the impact of Phi-Lab Spain.
The participants were Giuseppe Borghi, Head of Φ-lab Division, ESA (virtual), Roberto Cossu, Acting Head of ESA Innovation Services Section, ESA, Maria Galindo, Director General of Digital Policies, Generalitat de Catalunya, Sérgio Henrique Faria, Ikerbasque Research Professor at BC3 and Director of IzotzaLab, Emanuelle Pajot, Secretary General, EARSC, Jose María Pérez Pérez, Head of National Programmes and Industry Department, AEE, Leonardo Bejarano Manjón, Head of the Catalan Office for Climate Change, Generalitat de Catalunya, and Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, ECMWF
This meeting marked an important milestone in the consolidation of Phi-Lab Spain as part of the ESA Φ-lab Network, reinforcing its mission of promoting space-driven innovation for climate resilience. The insights and recommendations of the Advisory Board will play a crucial role in shaping the next steps of the initiative.
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About the IEEC
The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) promotes and coordinates space research and technology development in Catalonia for the benefit of society. IEEC fosters collaborations both locally and worldwide and is an efficient agent of knowledge, innovation and technology transfer. As a result of more than 25 years of high-quality research, done in collaboration with major international organisations, IEEC ranks among the best international research centres, focusing on areas such as: astrophysics, cosmology, planetary science, and Earth Observation. IEEC’s engineering division develops instrumentation for ground- and space-based projects, and has extensive experience in working with private or public organisations from the aerospace and other innovation sectors.
The IEEC is a non-profit public sector foundation that was established in February 1996. It has a Board of Trustees composed of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), and the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). The IEEC is also a CERCA centre.