Introducing InCubed
InCubed is the European Space Agency’s Earth observation programme for ‘Investing in Industrial Innovation’, managed by ESA ɸ-lab. It aims to foster commercial innovation, boost the European Earth observation economy and reinforce relationships with the private investor community.
It achieves this by working with entrepreneurs to develop innovative and commercially viable products and services that generate or exploit the value of Earth observation imagery and datasets.
With the rise of the global New Space sector, ESA is changing the way it operates. New Space encompasses everything from private small-satellite constellations to sophisticated data analytics platforms. It is set to grow exponentially, yet one of the challenges for the European space industry is securing the early-stage investment and technical validation needed to compete at a global scale.
This is where ESA’s InCubed programme comes in. It is designed to provide support for entrepreneurs and start-ups, helping them to develop innovative ideas and then roll them out. InCubed meets the need for a fast, flexible and industry-focused co-funding mechanism.
Access the video
As a commercially driven programme run by ESA Φ-lab, InCubed exemplifies ESA’s role as a partner to industry and a supporter of business and technology innovation.
The programme has enjoyed enormous success since the launch of its first activity in 2018. Through its partnerships with commercial space companies and by improving access to capital, InCubed continues to make a prodigious contribution to commercial Earth observation. The InCubed portfolio includes more than 180 activities, with an impressive €130 million invested (as of December 2025).
To ensure Europe maintains a leading market position and accelerates the transformation of space data into new applications with economic and societal value, ESA must actively nurture and de-risk industrial activities. This is essential for boosting Europe’s competitiveness, allowing innovation and securing the economic return on its space investments.
Due to the programme’s wide scope, it can be used to co-fund anything from building satellites to ground applications and everything in between – or to develop new Earth observation business models.
Companies and start-ups with an interest in developing novel concepts – including for satellite constellations, instruments, specialised technology, software applications or related services – are eligible to apply. InCubed offers strategic assistance from ESA to guide the project through to market.
InCubed aims to support each project at least until it reaches the minimum viable product stage, at which point the project is ready to generate a revenue. To meet this requirement, the project must be robust from a technical, commercial, programmatic and financial point of view. One of the most important benefits for participating companies is the preservation of ownership, as the company retains 100% of its equity and intellectual property rights.
Apply for InCubed funding
Do you have an activity in mind, for example, a constellation, a satellite, an instrument, a technology, software, a service or an application related to the Earth observation sector? And you want to develop it with ESA’s help and then roll it out commercially? If so, InCubed could be the programme for you.
The programme can also support further roll out and scale up if appropriate or can provide a solid demonstration capability for you to seek further funding for scaling and expansion.
Pitches for innovative ideas in Earth observation are always welcome, and applicants are encouraged to contact the InCubed team through the dedicated website.
More information about InCubed and how to apply is available here.
