When innovation in space boosts development on earth

INNOVATION is today a key word in every domain. It seems that you have to innovate to survive or, at least, to stay in the game, in a world where the digital revolution and technological breakthroughs hold out such huge possibilities. Space is not immune to this revolution, and to remain relevant it will have to adapt continuously to grasp these new possibilities.

Of course, from the outset, the conquest of space has been a long story of innovation where each step was the consequence of the meeting of a technological breakthrough and a new social or business need. Telecommunications via satellite, earth observation from space and satellite navigation systems are well-known applications that have already fulfilled the needs of a range of users from the military to business communities and ordinary citizens for their personal needs, and are now offering services that we could not live without.

But the global concerns of humanity in the 21st century are obviously not the same as those that prevailed 60 years ago, at the beginning of the space age, and innovation in space is now focusing on the fulfilment of these new needs.