search

The Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy and the European Investment Bank (EIB) today signed an Advisory Service Agreement in the context of Luxembourg’s SpaceResources.lu initiative. This initiative defines a framework to promote and support the exploration and commercial utilisation of resources from “celestial bodies” such as asteroids or from the moon.

The Luxembourg Government supports innovative R&D projects under the SpaceResources.lu initiative, including direct investments in companies active in advanced space technologies with operations in the Grand Duchy.

The agreement between the European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH) and the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy is the first step of close collaboration between the Ministry of the Economy and the EIB in this field. The Bank’s Innovation Finance Advisory Division will provide financial advice and guidance to the Ministry of the Economy to enhance access to finance for innovative projects supported under this initiative to develop this emerging and promising sector.

Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Étienne Schneider, commented: “By further developing funding opportunities tailored to the needs of private initiatives, Luxembourg confirms its ambition to become a European hub for the exploration and use of space resources. This cooperation with the EIB provides the Ministry of the Economy with the best possible understanding of available financial instruments to sustain our innovative venture. The agreement helps to promote the development of a competitive space industry aimed at creating economic growth and diversifying the national economy in a key high-tech sector.”

EIB’s Vice-President Pim van Ballekom, who is responsible for EIB operations in Luxembourg, said: “I am delighted that the EIB is joining forces with the Luxembourg Government in support of its visionary policy to accelerate the development of new space technologies, to pave the way for greater use of space resources and facilitate space explorations. Luxembourg is again playing to its strengths with this agile and mission-oriented investment strategy. Our advisory services will draw on the EIB’s technical and financial expertise and I hope that in due course the EIB Group will have the opportunity to invest in these new space technology companies using its wide array of financial products, notably under InnovFin and the European Fund for Strategic Investments.”

Read more

Fit 4 Start acceleration programme: 20 startups selected

16-12-2021

The 20 startups selected for Fit 4 Start #12 were chosen from a total of 214 applications coming from 42 countries. For this 12th edition, an additional category, focused on HPC and data analytics, has been added to the 3 traditional verticals ICT, healthtech and space.
Read more

National GAIA-X hubs: the voice of local data ecosystems

22-11-2021

Luxinnovation CEO Sasha Baillie was one of the speakers at the 2021 GAIA-X Summit, the annual event of this European initiative aimed at building a federated, secure European data infrastructure. Luxinnovation hosts Luxembourg’s national GAIA-X hub, and Ms Baillie shared her views on how the national hubs can connect local needs across Europe.
Read more

Luxembourg acquires petascale high performance computer

30-09-2020

On 29 September 2020, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot announced the acquisition of Luxembourg's high performance computer (HPC). Named MeluXina, it will become part of the European HPC network.
Read more

Apply for the Young Graduate Trainee Program

29-05-2018

The high-calibre programme lasts for one year, with option for a second year, and gives successful applicants an opportunity to gain valuable experience in the development and operation of space missi...
Read more

Call for expression of interest for In Orbit Demonstration/Validation (IOD/IOV) Experiments

23-04-2018

This call aims to gather experiments that could be considered for In Orbit Demonstration/Validation (IOD/IOV) actions, taking into consideration the Horizon 2020 IOD/IOV call for proposals and associa...
Read more

All news

Close