ESA title

About us

We firmly believe in the potential of truly transformative ideas and the power of compelling partnerships to accelerate the Earth observation future

OUR MISSION

ESA Φ-lab accelerates the future of Earth Observation (EO) through disruptive and transformational innovation, aiming to strengthen the world-leading competitiveness of the European EO industrial and scientific sectors.

Discover

Foster blue-sky transformative ideas

Nurture

Nurture good ideas

Mature

Evolve solutions through a fail-fast approach

Fund

Financially support and develop solutions

Impact

Foster entrepreneurial initiatives
Achieve innovation adoption

Φ-lab is an open innovation laboratory, acting as a hub and catalyst for Earth observation innovative and transformative ideas. Φ-lab creates a bridge within the Earth observation ecosystem, between innovative actors from the industry, the investment community and academia, to foster impactful entrepreneurial initiatives. Φ-lab aims to generate a competitive advantage through a unique commercial and/or scientific value proposition.

Φ-lab is the only organisation within ESA where, within a single team, you can propose a blue-sky, unqualified idea and receive assistance in maturing it up to its adoption in the market or society. Our motto is “we innovate and apply under one roof,” and this model has now been adopted, under the auspices of ESA Agenda 2025, as an ESA strategic action deploying a network of Φ-labs across Europe

We are located at ESA’s ESRIN establishment in Frascati, Italy. The Φ-lab family encompasses approximately 40 members across 12 different nationalities, including around 20% of ESA staff, in combination with ESA Research Fellows, Visiting Professors and Visiting Researchers from academia and industry.

Read more in our Brochure

Φ-lab consists of two offices

The Explore Office focuses on the initial part of the innovation pipeline, while the Invest Office drives proposed innovations to market via the InCubed commercialisation programme

01

Explore Office

Explores the innovation universe and connects together the EO and digital revolutions.

A team of Researchers and innovation seed funding (FutureEO)

We Explore

02

Invest Office

Stimulates competitiveness by fostering the growth of entrepreneurial initiatives through investment actions from ESA Member States and private investors.

A team of business innovators and a commercial co-funding programme (InCubed)

We invest

Our History

Established in Spring 2018, the concept of Φ-lab was infused with ideas from a trip by ESA executives to Silicon Valley, where they saw organisations that nurture innovation in inspirational environments.

In the short period from its inception until today, ESA Φ-lab has become the reference point in the Earth observation sector for transformational innovation and business investment. We have garnered many successes, some of which are given below.

AS OF AUGUST 2024

OUR SUCCESS

19

Contributions to AI-powered satellites

The Φ-lab Explore Office continues to accelerate the adoption of the digital revolution on board of satellites. We have contributed to the genesis of the Φ-sat programme and supported the AI elements of Φsat-1, Φsat-2, Intuition 1, Kanyini, OPS-SAT, etc., together with studies for ESA operational missions. Through InCubed, we have supported the development of several emerging EO data and services constellations.

20

External collaborations with companies, agencies, research centres and private investors

We have signed partnerships with industrial and research entities, scientific AI associations and institutions. These organisations provide the stimuli to many of the activities we do.

€225M

InCubed fund size

The InCubed programme increased significantly its fund size at the last ESA Ministerial Conference, reaching a total of €225 million in subscriptions from 22 European countries. We aim to leverage the successes of InCubed and the great feedback from industry to expand the programme to all ESA Member States, thereby increasing its impact in the ecosystem.

140+

Publications in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences

We have published over 100 works, including international journal and conference papers, and as the editors of books.

Read all publications

12

Visiting Professors

Φ-lab, in collaboration with its 12 visiting professors, continues to set the European research and development agenda within AI for Earth observation.

Discover all work opportunities

>60

Visiting researchers

Φ-lab has hosted over 60 visiting researchers from industry, universities, research centres and other organisations. We typically host around ten researchers at any one time.

Discover all work opportunities

For researchers in the field of Earth observation there is no more stimulating place than Φ-lab. I had assumed this to be the case before arriving, and my experience at the lab confirmed the fact. I am at the beginning of my PhD and my time at Φ-lab has really opened my mind to new research activities. The people I met there have been of enormous value to me and I hope to be able to continue this fantastic collaboration.

Francesco Mauro
former Unisannio Master student

Φ-lab is a place where driven and smart people work on cutting-edge research in the Earth observation sector. I had a fruitful two-month stay and will definitely continue the collaboration in the months and years to come. I especially enjoyed learning about the many “AI for Good” projects that are going on at Φ-lab.

Kai Jeggle
ETH Zurich Visiting Researcher

I have now visited Φ-lab four times in the past three years, and without exception, I leave each time with a feeling of joy, renewed inspiration, new ideas, a stronger network and new collaborations - a result of the inclusive, agile and fast-paced research environment that the lab facilitates through its team of kind and talented people. I cannot recommend Φ-lab enough as a superb career step in the world of Earth observation research and innovation

Andreas Stokholm
DTU Technical University of Denmark Visiting Researcher

Innovative and inspiring solutions, the latest advances in AI for EO and a great team! This is how I see Φ-lab after my three months spent there. During my stay, I was introduced to automated machine learning methods, which then became the core of my analysis. Thanks to my supervisors, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss my research questions with various experts from all over ESRIN.

Daniel Paluba
Visiting Researcher, PhD candidate at Charles University in Prague

I spent two wonderful years at Φ-lab in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. Even though I worked remotely for many months, I learned a lot from both the incredibly inspiring environment and my colleagues. I collaborated on many projects from on-board computing applications to analysis, linking epidemiological data to remote sensing. My experience was also enriched by the collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), who supported my postdoc at Φ-lab, and the ASI colleagues who guided me toward understanding the PRISMA hyperspectral data.

Dario Spiller
SIA Scuola di Ingegneria Aerospaziale (Sapienza University) Visiting Researcher

The time I spent at Φ-lab has been extremely valuable. I have encountered an inclusive and dynamic Research and Industrial environment with a lot of state-of-the-art ongoing projects. Thanks to its main asset, people, Φ-lab is exploring the most advanced and disruptive AI applications and connecting Industry, Investors and Academia.

Federico Ricciuti
Tre Altamira Visiting Researcher

During my time at the Φ-lab, I was immersed in a dynamic and collaborative research environment. The team's dedication to exploring new AI and machine learning frontiers was contagious, and I left feeling stimulated and inspired. The lab's partnerships with industry leaders and academic institutions provide a valuable platform for innovation. The Φ-lab embodies the spirit of cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge-sharing, and I feel fortunate to have been a part of it.

Gianluca Murdaca
Tre Altamira Visiting Researcher

The time I spent at Φ-lab was extremely inspiring, revealing the vast potential of onboard processing for OroraTech and igniting new ideas for collaborations with ESA. The cutting-edge research and innovative technology left me eager to explore further applications and processing options for our thermal infrared timeseries data. In general, Φ-lab is providing a rich environment for data-driven exploration and collaboration.

Julia Gottfriedsen
Ororatech Visiting Researcher

My collaboration with Φ-lab has been immensely rewarding, as it offered an inclusive and vibrant atmosphere for both research and industrial collaboration, featuring numerous cutting-edge projects. The people at Φ-lab, its greatest resource, are pioneering revolutionary AI applications and proactively fostering innovation via industrial partnerships and exchanging knowledge across industries, investors, and academia.

Domenico Barretta
visiting researcher from University of Naples Vanvitelli.

My experience at the Φ-lab has been incredibly rewarding. The opportunity to actively engage with experts from different fields, and thus to be able to collaborate in multidisciplinary projects, makes this a particularly professionalizing experience. The multicultural environment creates fertile ground for inclusive and innovative research in AI applications for Earth Observation.

Manuel Lacal
current visiting researcher at the Φ-lab from National PhD course on “Space Science and Technology (SST)” of the University of Trento / University of L’Aquila (operational site)

This experience was incredibly rewarding. I had the unique opportunity to collaborate closely with industrial teams and professional researchers, gaining invaluable insights into real-world applications of satellite technology and contributing to significant projects. The supportive environment at Φ-lab made this internship a truly memorable and transformative period in my academic and professional journey.

Nermine Hendy
PhD student from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia

I truly enjoyed my stay. I received a very warm welcome from the staff and made some friends along the way. Φ-lab has a wonderful energy, where everyone is trying to solve big challenges, and being a part of it was remarkable. They are doing research for the public benefit, and I appreciate that in a research lab.

Brandon Victor
PhD student at La Trobe University, Australia
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