The European Space Deep-Tech Innovation Centre ESDI is a Centre of Excellence under ESA leadership, implemented in cooperation with the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI.
What is ESDI?
The European Space Deep-Tech Innovation Centre (ESDI) is a collaborative initiative between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland, established to accelerate the commercial adoption and availability of deep-tech for the benefit of ESA, its Member States, and the broader European space sector.
Starting with the ESA Phi-Lab Switzerland, ESDI designs, establishes and runs platforms for deep-tech research in quantum, data, and materials, bringing to use technologies of tomorrow for the world of today.
ESA Phi-Lab Switzerland
The Phi-Lab is the first research platform of ESDI, designed to support and accelerate the development of innovative space technologies. It focuses on addressing fundamental technological challenges that limit the practical applications of technology.
As part of the Phi-LabNET, it is a member of the dynamic network of Phi-Labs in ESA Member States established as one of the Components of the ”Innovate” Element in ESA’s ScaleUp Programme.
Quantum
Call for proposals: What if every satellite could carry a quantum sensor the size of a shoebox?
Submissions are closed.
Ongoing step: Evaluation.
Materials
ESA launches the “Call for Conundrums in Materials” Submit your idea until July 23rd.
Data
Information regarding the upcoming call scheduled for 2026.
Technologies of Tomorrow for the World of Today
Agility and Flexibility
Our call designs emphasize agility, allowing projects and program managers to react swiftly and support research teams effectively. With a milestone-based structure, we ensure iterative evaluation and decision-making, enabling projects to adapt to evolving needs and achieve ambitious goals within a short timeframe.
Stakeholder Engagement and Support
Extensive stakeholder engagement activities, such as workshops, roadshow presentations, and 1:1 discussions, are core to our call design. We provide comprehensive support to selected research teams, including funding, technical advisory, business coaching, and access to infrastructure and intellectual property resources.
Use-Inspired Research
We focus on establishing use-inspired research programs that aim to reach critical mass and demonstrate significant progress towards practical applications. By identifying research priorities through two-way input from ESA and the deep-tech research community, we facilitate application readiness and showcasing through ESA and local platforms. Additionally, we actively seek to identify and address neglected areas of research that hold potential for significant advancements.
Complementarity and Novelty
Our call design complements existing research programs by introducing novel approaches and fostering collaborations. We encourage diversity in research teams and leverage deep-tech competences, facilities, and expertise in Switzerland to address space-relevant challenges and realize commercialization potential. We also identify and tackle challenging technological problems, also labeled as "technology conundrums worth solving," that offer potential for commercialization and practical use in the near term.
Technology at the frontier of science and engineering
At ESDI, we understand deep-tech as a knowledge-rich technology at the frontier of science and engineering, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and driving innovation for the European space sector.
Our focus on technology conundrums worth solving addresses critical challenges, leveraging deep-tech to create commercial opportunities and impactful solutions.
Get in Touch with ESDI
We appreciate your interest in ESDI. Kindly complete the form, and we will respond to your inquiry promptly.
For questions related to open calls, please visit the call page on the Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP).
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