To ensure European Union’s (EU) non-dependence and competitiveness in space technologies, the EU is proposing an in orbit demonstration / validation (IOD/IOV) service to the European space industry. The European Innovation Council and European Commission’s Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space are cooperating closely to foster and grow a competitive and innovative EU space industry and offer a fast track access to the Union’s IOD/IOV Services to the EIC beneficiaries.
In 2024, there will be two cut-off dates for proposals:
submit your applications before 15th March 2024 and 2nd September 2024
To ensure EU non-dependence and competitiveness in technologies, there is a need for regular IOD/IOV service in the EU. In particular in support to EU SMEs and start-ups in reaching technological maturation of their space experiments and de-risking space technology innovations through IOD/IOV. Although flight opportunities do exist, these are often difficult to access for EU SMEs’ and start-ups at affordable cost and/or in the required timeframe.
For this purpose, a set IOD/IOV activities have been proposed by European Commission DG Defis & Space open call to all EIC projects willing to fly their experiments in space, as part of the current Horizon Europe programme. IOD/IOV experiments are defined as innovative technologies, products, concepts, architectures, and operations techniques that require in orbit demonstration/validation.