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ESA is retiring its BASS funding programme and launching ACCESS - a new, expanded business funding track for space startups and SMEs.

What's changing:

→ Broader maturity levels (not just Kick-Starts)

→ New application templates (old BASS forms won't work)

→ First calls open mid-December

What stays the same:

→ Same goal: Help you test and commercialize your space idea

→ Similar funding levels (in the low six-figure range for early-stage activities)

→ Same timeline (4–6 weeks to evaluation)

Action for Irish founders:

Watch business.esa.int/funding from mid-December for the first ACCESS calls. Don't use old BASS templates. Download the new ACCESS templates when calls open.

While the sector watched ESA's budget negotiations, a significant piece of Irish space technology went into orbit aboard SpaceX's Transporter-15 mission on November 28.

AIX-1+, the third satellite in Planetek Italia's AI-eXpress constellation, confirmed operational status last week, with Dublin-based Ubotica onboard as one of three core launch partners alongside IBM and Eni.

The constellation operates as a “digital laboratory” in orbit, designed to test a space “App Store” model - satellites that can run different AI applications onboard rather than sending raw data to ground stations for processing.

Ubotica's technology handles neural network optimisation and edge-AI portability on the platform, positioning Irish space AI as a key enabler of what ESA and commercial operators call "software-defined” satellite architecture.

"From advanced imaging to onboard AI processing and seamless data delivery, ESA has supported the development of a truly end-to-end system that delivers insights faster and more efficiently than any traditional Earth Observation approach," says Giuseppe Borghi, Head of ESA's Φ-lab division.

The shift matters because it fundamentally changes the economics of satellite operations.

Traditional Earth observation missions beam vast quantities of raw data to ground stations, creating bottlenecks in processing time and infrastructure costs.

The AI-eXpress approach processes data in orbit, delivering only the insights -maritime anomalies, disaster response intelligence, infrastructure changes - in seconds rather than hours.

Users can already deploy their own AI models to the constellation, shortening the path from concept to operational service.

For Ireland's space sector, it's validation that edge-computing expertise developed for terrestrial applications translates directly to the orbital market.

Storm Bram battered Ireland the same week a University of Galway-backed study was published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science.

The ESA-led international study highlights an awkward truth: while satellites excel at tracking weather, we're barely using them to measure whether our climate defences - the flood walls, land-use changes, and infrastructure upgrades costing billions - actually work.

The study found that, in some cases, satellite data spanning up to 60 years can assess these protective measures even in remote regions where ground measurements are too challenging.

Professor Aaron Golden, who leads the University of Galway team at the Ryan Institute, argues that consistent, long-term observations offer policymakers tools to measure progress and identify regions at risk, while ESA’s Sarah Connors warns that satellite monitoring needs to be built into climate tracking frameworks from the start.

Ireland already has companies operating in this verification niche, including Tao Climate and Proveye, which use satellite observation to track whether climate action deliver results. The University of Galway work - which combines satellite imagery with AI to measure adaptation in food production - adds research weight to what's becoming a genuine cluster.

The study covered agriculture, biodiversity, extreme events, and health sectors, demonstrating applications from irrigation efficiency to disease outbreak forecasting.

The research, timed for COP30, effectively says we're spending heavily on climate defences but flying blind on results. As Golden notes, the work provides "a direct means of linking facts on the ground, anywhere on the planet" to measuring whether our efforts are actually working.

Health tech firms took five of seven awards in Monday's €39 million DTIF Call 7, with medical diagnostics and AI-powered clinical tools dominating. Space companies received no awards.

For space founders watching this result, there are lessons to be learned in how the health companies structured their proposals.

The winning health projects paired hardware development with artificial intelligence and embedded clinical validation work packages into their timelines. Provable real-world testing with measurable outcomes appears to have made a difference.

A diagnostic tool that promises hospital trials and patient data gives evaluators a clear path from prototype to adoption, complete with gatekeepers who will verify whether the technology delivers.

Space companies can adapt this formula. Instead of "satellite technology for Earth observation," proposals could be framed as "climate validation using satellite data and AI-driven analytics," with agricultural cooperatives or insurance firms committed as early testers.

The validation step needs to be explicit and quantifiable. Health companies built that into their bids. Space companies preparing for Call 8 should do the same and bring validation partners into the consortium from day one.

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