In the Spotlight

Thales Alenia Space: Hub of Space Innovation

In the Spotlight

Thales Alenia Space: Hub of Space Innovation

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May 27 2025

Last week, Thales Alenia Space in Turin was the venue for two key events for the innovation ecosystem: the European Innovation Council (EIC) Corporate Day and the Space Business Catalyst Demo Day. Both events showcased the industry's driving force for innovation.

On May 20-21, 2025, Thales Alenia Space and the European Innovation Council (EIC) co-hosted a Corporate Day in Turin, Italy. This event marked the culmination of the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme with Thales Alenia Space. After sourcing the most relevant startups from the EIC portfolio, the programme tailored their solutions and pitches to meet Thales Alenia Space's needs. Over two days, representatives from Thales Alenia Space and nine EIC-backed startups explored innovative solutions aligned with Thales Alenia Space's strategic objectives in the areas of telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management, exploration, science, and orbital infrastructures.

By combining Thales Alenia Space’s strengths with the disruptive potential of EIC-backed startups, the Corporate Day fostered opportunities for innovation, agility, and collaboration that open innovation models offer.

Delphine Knab, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Innovation, Mergers & Acquisitions, and New Business Initiatives at Thales Alenia Space, shared: “Hosting the EIC’s cohort of deep tech companies at our Turin site has generated substantial momentum. These startups bring cutting-edge technologies and a bold entrepreneurial spirit that complement our ambitions in space innovation. This is our second Corporate Day with the EIC, and we see strong potential for impactful partnerships. We are keen to explore further synergies with the EIC, beyond from both EIC Pathfinder and EIC Business Acceleration Services.”

The following day, the Space Business Catalyst Demo Day was held at the Green Pea building in Turin, a center for sustainable and innovative business. Thales Alenia Space, with its Space Business Catalyst, convened more than 20 startups and intrapreneurial projects to share the vision and ongoing actions to build the future of space markets, with international companies, institutions, investors, and experts.

In the plenary session, Thales Alenia Space CEO Hervé Derrey, Deputy CEO & SVP Observation, Exploration, Navigation Giampiero Di Paolo, SVP Innovation, Mergers & Acquisitions & New Business Initiatives Delphine Knab, and VP Science & Exploration Walter Cugno, along with the Space Business Catalyst team, emphasized how Thales Alenia Space is shaping the future of space. This achieved through internal innovation practices and by harnessing external stimuli that influence business and process evolution.

The event allowed startups accelerated by the Space Business Catalyst in Toulouse and Turin, as well as ventures within Thales Alenia Space, to demonstrate their potential to internal and external stakeholders. The workshops and booth tours offered invaluable opportunities for debate, brainstorming, idea exchange, growth, and evolution.

The Space Business Catalyst, led by Thales Alenia Space’s Innovation Cluster, supports the emergence of new markets and players in the space sector and its industrial acceleration program specifically aims to develop the future space ecosystems by collaborating with leading startups.

Currently based at our Toulouse and Turin sites, it provides technical, commercial, and financial support , attracting startups globally, via Thales Alenia Space’s extensive geographic and long-lasting experience.

Through intrapreneurial projects and collaboration with startups, the Space Business Catalyst aims to drive the space disruptions of tomorrow. Its holistic approach positions our company as a leader in NewSpace, where large companies and startups intersect.

Since 2017, there have been more than 150 projects with start-ups, including the first private space station Axiom and SwissTo12 mini geostationary satellites. Additionally, more than 15 startups use our facilities for assembly, integration, and testing while we prepare for the Smart Space Factory in Rome to advance further.

The Space Business Catalyst’s industrial acceleration program, initiated in 2023, hosts startups from Europe and beyond, such as the EIC beneficiary Persei Space. The catalyst does not take equity or charge for participation but requires a minimum onsite presence. In return, startups gain access to our technical experts, go-to-market channels, and extensive network. They can also access our industrial resources under preferred conditions, especially for EIC beneficiaries, and have a direct track to Thales Corporate Ventures’ investments vehicles. The objective is to transform PowerPoint ideas into actual space innovations.

Vincent Clot, Director of the Space Business Catalyst, stated: “New markets have emerged and will continue to do so. Thales Alenia Space has been, is, and will remain a key player in this evolution, trailblazing the future with the Space Business Catalyst. We have demonstrated our embrace of NewSpace with disruptive solutions and the complementary strengths of new players. It is now time to advance beyond NewSpace into a seamless operational stage, where small and large players collaborate and scale up together in synergy.”

Stefano Masiello, Space Business Catalyst Partner in Italy concluded: “As in last year's edition in Toulouse, Thales Alenia Space, with its Space Business Catalyst, continues to foster innovation with this second edition of the demo day held in Turin. The entire network, including institutions, investors, customers, and the research and academic world, demonstrated great interest and appreciation for the content offered by Thales Alenia Space and the event's organization. This edition also confirmed the interest of the Italian ecosystem, both nationally and locally, in these themes, as well as Turin's ability to host events of this magnitude and play a key role in innovation.”