Horizon Europe Cluster 4 – Space (destination 5) is the civil Space research and innovation programme of the EU. Its purpose is to support the evolution of the operational “EU Space Programme” components and to foster the competitiveness of the European Space sector as a whole. Its programming is the responsibility of the European Commission’s DG DEFIS, in close coordination with stakeholders at European (such as ESA) and national level (such as national Space agencies), from industry and research.
Our ambitious space programme contributes to Europe’s digital and green transitions, to strengthening our resilience and strategic autonomy, and in turn our potential to innovate for the future
The Directorate-general for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS) has given a mandate to HaDEA and EUSPA for the implementation of Horizon Europe Cluster 4 - Space, and works with ESA as a partner.
HaDEA funds grant agreements tackling challenges in these domains of the programme:
Fostering competitiveness of space and related ground systems:
Systems for satellite communication, navigation and Earth observation via improved technological capabilities that allow for entering new markets and fast adaptation to change;
Modular, flexible and intelligent satellites, that are hybrid, smart and reconfigurable and can be manufactured, assembled and serviced directly in-orbit, and with a de-orbiting capacity; reductions in mass, cost, emission, energy consumption and development time to be achieved via advanced design and manufacturing methods enabled by digitalisation and automation, via “Digital Twins”, plug-and-play modularity, and model based system engineering - here we clearly see the link with the other cluster destinations;
Reinforcing the EU capacity to access and use space
In a highly competitive global market for launch services, with increasing numbers of competitors, new uses of space (small satellites, larger constellations, payload recovery, payload quick deployment), new services (direct orbit injection, in-orbit servicing) and in-space transportation;
Contributing to the evolution of Copernicus services;
Developing and advancing innovative space capabilities such as Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Quantum;
Supporting the EU space sector with a number of targeted and strategic actions in the areas of critical space technologies for EU non-dependence and competitiveness, space science activities, outreach, education and international cooperation activities, as well as cooperating with ESA for the establishment of regular and cost-effective flight opportunities for In-Orbit Demonstration/In-Orbit Validation (IOD/IOV).