Definition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
ESA follows the European Commission's definition of an SME (see EU recommendation 2003/361).
Note: ESA grants SME status only after verification of the data of the candidate companies. Entities can claim the SME status in esa-star Registration. Chapter 2.4 of the esa-star Registration User Manual contains information about the process.
Validated SMEs can benefit from ESA’s SME support measures including special tendering and payment conditions, when so defined.