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Defence Industry and Space

Promoting our European Way of Life

DG DEFIS contributes to building resilience, safety and security in many forms:

Boosting the economy

Space is a strategic sector for the EU with various positive spillover effects on the entire economy, contributing to job creation, economic growth and EU security. Access to space is a key enabler and indispensable element in the overall space value chain: without access, there is no space policy.

In line with the Space Strategy for Europe (COM(2016)705), ensuring independent, reliable and cost-effective access to space is a political imperative for the EU.

Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship

Europe’s 25 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the EU economy. They employ around 100 million people, account for more than half of Europe’s GDP and play a key role in adding value in every sector of the economy. The Commission aims at considerably increasing the number of SMEs engaging in sustainable business solutions by using digital technologies and at making Europe the most attractive place to start a small business, making it grow and scaling up in the single market.  

In this perspective, the Commission’s focus on the space sector is on start-ups developing innovative solutions based on EU space technologies, space data and services. The EU Space Programme will promote the emergence of a European New Space eco-system to foster entrepreneurship and to promote the European space industry. The New Space Entrepreneurship Initiative “CASSINI” will offer comprehensive support from idea raising to business incubation, seed-funding and pre-commercial procurement to promising start-ups with a strong entrepreneurship spirit.