Luxembourg, 5 July 2024 – The new Space Resources Accelerator operated by ESRIC, itself an initiative of LSA and LIST, is launching a call for applications to select its first cohort of commercial projects to be accelerated. The call, which will be launched on 22 July 2024, following International Moon Day, is targeting commercial entities (standalone or leading a consortium) proposing to develop a commercial solution (product or service) relevant to the lunar resources value chain. A series of webinars will be held on 11 July and 5 September to disclose more information about the initiative.

The goal of the Accelerator is to provide technical, commercial and financial support for the development and maturation of selected commercial projects, terrestrial or in-space demonstrations. The Accelerator operates on a public-private co-funding model, where ESA provides 50% of the funding, which must be matched by non-ESA private co-funding to pay for the costs of project implementation. This could include financing technology, service or capability demonstrations in relevant environments, such as terrestrial demonstrations in analogue facilities or space-based demonstrations in orbit. Subject to ESA Member States approval, ESA intends to unlock up to €1 million to co-fund the commercial projects selected in the first cohort of the Space Resources Accelerator.

Lunar exploration has been increasingly in the spotlight over the last couple of years. China’s recent mission, Chang’e 6, successfully landed on the far side of the Moon to collect samples from its surface. In February 2024, Intuitive Machines – a US scale-up company boasting over $300 million in revenue and employing more than 250 people – marked a historic milestone with the first-ever soft-landing of a private spacecraft on the Moon, highlighting the growing importance of the private sector in lunar exploration. Expectations are high for an increasing number of missions expected in the coming years.

“The Space Resources Accelerator is an important element of our overall strategy. We are putting a variety of actions in place to grow and engage a community that can support sustainable space exploration and commercialization activities. This initiative in particular is aimed to accelerate specific commercial projects towards building a value chain around space resources.” states Bernhard Hufenbach, Commercialization and Innovation Lead at ESA.
During the Accelerator design phase, ESRIC assessed the most critical technology areas and applications that have the potential to support the future space resources value chain within the broader context of the lunar economy. This study identified nearly one hundred privately funded commercial entities that are developing
commercial solutions for the lunar environment as well as terrestrial and space solutions that can be used on the Moon. The ESRIC team interviewed dozens of entrepreneurs and executives about their ambitions for lunar exploration.

“Overall, the goal of the initiative is to stimulate lunar exploration and support relevant technologies that can be co-funded by the public and private sectors. ESRIC is thrilled to support these projects with R&D expertise, state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities, so they can be ready for future lunar missions. Companies accelerated will be able to access non-dilutive public financing from ESA, matched by private funding, including private equity investments, explains Alexander Godlewski, Business Accelerator Officer.

The Accelerator has been designed to meet the needs expressed by the private sector, with ESRIC providing acceleration services ranging from support to attract investors and secure co-funding to access to technical experts, facilities, as well as market knowledge) to get projects off the ground and one step closer to the Moon.
The initiative has been welcomed by both the private and public sectors, particularly the European ecosystem, which sees the BSGN Accelerator as a catalyst for lunar exploration ambitions. The Accelerator also aims to capitalize on and add value to other programmes such as the ESA & ESRIC Space Resources Challenge and the Start-up Support Programme, ESRIC’s business incubation programme dedicated to space resources.

“We believe that the Space Resources Accelerator is a particularly good fit for SMEs evolving from start-up to scale-up, with continuity in the support provided to the ventures incubated in the Start-up Support Programme, as well as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs).” says Lari Cujko, leading the incubation programme at ESRIC.