AgroSpace

The agricultural sector faces major climate challenges, such as droughts, wildfires and extreme heatwaves, as well as the need for more efficient resource management and the implementation of sustainable farming practices.

Space technologies, particularly those related to Earth observation, have the potential to become a key tool in transforming agriculture, which is increasingly moving towards digitalisation and the collection and processing of data to support informed decision-making.

The AgroSpace project proposes innovative solutions in this direction, based on good practices, cutting-edge research and transnational actions using Earth-observation images and tools, precision agriculture and space telecommunications.

To highlight the advantages of adopting these solutions, the project will implement three demonstrators: one from an agricultural chamber to improve the assessment of climate-related damage and thus provide better compensation for farmers; another for the efficient management of agricultural resources in a major winery; and a third to validate a methodology based on open calls that identify agricultural challenges and space-based solutions.

The implementation of an intersectoral marketplace will foster communication and collaboration between agricultural stakeholders — who will be able to put forward challenges from their sector — and providers of solutions from the space sector to help address them.

The project, launched in June 2025 and expected to continue until May 2028, has a budget of €2.5 million, of which €1.9 million comes from the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The organisations forming the consortium (coordinated by the IEEC) responsible for delivering the AgroSpace project — which includes research centres, chambers of commerce and agriculture, clusters, companies from the agricultural and space sectors, as well as end-users — will jointly develop an intersectoral innovation strategy with an action plan based on three pillars: research, market and policy instruments, which will include training and awareness-raising actions. The ultimate goal is to generate effective and transformative solutions that can be transferred to wider territories.

Among AgroSpace’s notable associated partners are the Government of Catalonia, the Spanish Space Agency (AEE), the Portuguese Space Agency, the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) and the Region of Occitanie.