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The ESA Φ-lab Newsletter #21

| July 2026 |

BRINGING ESA Φ-LAB’S DISRUPTIVE VISION TO THE WORLD

Dear Φ-lab community,

This year has seen ESA Φ-lab step firmly into the global spotlight. From the ECMWF-ESA Workshop on Machine Learning to the first edition of Φnnovation Summit, our extensive participation in international events has served a singular purpose: to cross-pollinate ideas and broadcast the new frontier of disruptive technologies.

At Φ-lab, our vision is rooted in accelerating the future of Earth Observation by harnessing the power of transformative innovations like Edge Computing, Quantum Technologies or Foundation Models, to name a few. By themselves, these technologies achieve little. But by combining different technologies and perspectives, we are actively closing the gap between advanced space research and real-world needs.

This outreach directly fuels ESA’s broader Earth Action strategy. We are working to shift the Earth Observation paradigm from complex data pipelines to integrated and actionable intelligence. Our dissemination activities, research sprints and other collaborative initiatives are in line with the democratisation of Earth Observation data. By lowering the entry barrier for researchers, start-ups, non-space industries – or just enthusiasts! – we ensure that powerful satellite-based insights are no longer restricted to an elite, but universally accessible for global decision-making.

As we look ahead, we remain committed to expanding this ecosystem, turning disruptive technologies into real-world solutions, one step at a time.

Wishing you all a great summer break.

See you in September,
The Φ-lab team

LATEST FROM THE LAB

WMF – WE MAKE FUTURE

24 - 26 June – Hosted at BolognaFiere, We Make Future is a hub for business education, culture and creativity that connects companies, AI and digital agencies, software houses, start-ups and scale-ups, institutions and investors from 90 countries. Claudio Iacopino, Head of the Φ-lab Explore Office, gave a talk about our agentic AI strategy on the main stage. Φ-labbers Sabrina Ricci, AI Ecosystem Manager, and Albin Lacroix, Geospatial System Engineer, presented our Explore and Invest Offices’ activities at the Φ-lab booth. Claudio Iacopino and Veronica La Regina participated in the ‘The Future is in Space’ session, moderated by Sabrina Ricci. The team also hosted Carlo Negri, director of the Space Economy Observatory from Politecnico di Milano.

23 - 25 June – Held at ESA-ESRIN (Frascati, Italy), the first edition of Φnnovation Summit exceeded participation expectations with over 440 attendees, and featuring 26 side events. The programme included high-level speakers, such as Director Generals, and brought together the full spectrum of institutions, including agencies, universities, industries and research centres. It offered a forward-looking agenda enriched with special, interactive formats such as Fishbowl sessions, PechaKucha presentations and dedicated side events. A Memorandum of Intent (MoI) between ESA and the Vector Institute was also signed during the event, together with an intensive workshop involving all Φ-lab Visiting Professors. The morning and afternoon sessions highlighted innovative Earth Observation use cases, complemented by numerous opportunities for networking and ecosystem building, including Innovation Speed Dating sessions designed to foster new partnerships.

15 - 19 June – Our team took part in the ‘AI-driven Approaches for Space Applications’ workshop, bringing together experts from academia, industry and the space sector to discuss the latest advances in Artificial Intelligence for space. Φ-labber Sabrina Ricci delivered the keynote "From Earth Observation to Earth Intelligence: Exploring the New AI Frontier at ESA Φ-lab", presenting Φ-lab's vision and strategic agenda. The workshop also featured a scientific contribution from Gilberto Goracci, Internal Research Fellow at Φ-lab, who presented his latest research, further showcasing Φ-lab's commitment to advancing cutting-edge AI research and innovation.

14 - 19 June – The 2026 ‘Beyond the Visible: Summer School on AI, Sensing, and the Future of Terrestrial Resources’ was held at the ETH Zurich Campus Heilbronn, in Germany, bringing together around 40 participants from different disciplines and backgrounds and focusing on how advances in Earth observation and artificial intelligence can improve resource management systems. Lorenzo Papa, Internal Research Fellow at Φ-lab, presented a lesson on AI4EO titled “Disruptive Approaches for Next Generation Earth Observation”.

12 June – Organised by STAM, in collaboration with ESA and ASI, this full-day event brought together more than 100 participants from the Earth Observation, industrial, innovation and investment ecosystems, connecting Earth Observation capabilities with real industrial needs, market perspectives and innovation challenges across different sectors. Michele Castorina, Head of the Φ-lab Invest Office and InCubed Programme manager, presented InCubed during the institutional opening.

11 - 12 June – The Hello Tomorrow Global Summit took place in Amsterdam and gathered founders, investors and industry leaders to discuss the technologies redefining our future, from energy transition and advanced computing to biotech, aerospace, and beyond. Giuseppe Borghi, Head of the Φ-lab Division and Chiara Maria Cocchiara, Senior Innovation Officer at Φ-lab, presented the top two finalists of the 2025 ESA Φ-lab Grand Marathon, a challenge run in partnership with Hello Tomorrow that invited innovators, agencies, NGOs and other forms of institutions to design next-generation Earth Observation concepts dedicated to resilience and humanitarian support in conflict or disaster areas. Giuseppe Borghi also participated on a panel on Climate on the Frontier Stage.

27 - 29 May – Hosted by ESA Education, in collaboration with the national European Space Education Resource Offices (ESEROs), the 2026 ESA’s Climate Detectives brought together 120 secondary school students and their teachers from 21 European countries to explore how satellite data, science and technology are used to better understand and protect our planet. Claudio Iacopino delivered the closing keynote speech on the future of AI applications in Earth observation.

19 - 22 May – Organised as part of JPPG, together with NASA IMPACT, the second ESA-NASA Workshop on Foundation Models was hosted by NASA MSFC in Huntsville, Alabama. Nicolas Longépé, Earth Observation Data Scientist at Φ-lab, delivered the opening and closing speeches of the workshop. Giuseppe Borghi, Head of the Φ-lab Division, participated in an agency leadership panel featuring strategic perspectives on AI, data science and Earth observation transformation. Ruben Cartuyvels and Valerio Marsocci, Internal Research Fellows at Φ-lab, led collaborative discussions on embeddings and benchmarking. Nicolas Longépé, Ruben Cartuyvels and Valerio Marsocci also presented posters about their work in robustness in Earth observation, Geospatial Foundation Models and enhanced onboard autonomy. Session recordings will be available soon.

19 - 20 May – Hosted in Fiera Rho, in Milan (Italy), AI WEEK is Europe's largest event on Artificial Intelligence, dedicated to managers, entrepreneurs and professionals ready to transform their future thanks to this technology. Φ-labber Sabrina Ricci presented our work at the ESA Φ-lab booth. Claudio Iacopino, Head of the Φ-lab Explore Office, gave a talk on the main stage. Representing InCubed, Φ-labber José Manuel Delgado Blasco presented a business-focused session.

12 - 14 May – Held in Seville, Spain, the 3rd ESA Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum gave attendees the opportunity to meet institutions, industry leaders, start-ups, investors, users and entrepreneurs, and connect with potential partners while staying ahead of key Earth observation market trends and challenges. Check the speakers’ presentations, event photos and the video highlight on the website below.

3 - 8 May – The 2026 EGU General Assembly (EGU26) was held in Vienna, Austria, fostering fundamental geoscience research, alongside applied research that addresses key societal and environmental challenges. Φ-labber Eva Gmelich Meijling presented two posters. Φ-labbers Mounia El Baz, Valerio Marsocci and Gilberto Goracci presented their work at Φ-lab. Φ-labber Nicolas Longepé convened a session on ‘Geospatial Foundation Models for Earth Observation and Earth Sciences: Current Solutions and Future Perspectives’. See the session recordings below.

13 - 17 April – The fifth edition of the ECMWF–ESA Workshop on Machine Learning for Earth Observation and Prediction provided an up-to-date snapshot of the state of the art in this rapidly evolving field. Rochelle Schneider, Copernicus Ecosystem Operations Engineer and Φ-lab ambassador, and Mounia El Baz, EO Digital Innovation Engineer at Φ-lab, chaired a session on ‘Machine Learning for Digital Twins of the Earth system”. Diego Jatobá Dos Santos, International Research Fellow at Φ-lab, chaired a session on ‘High-performance and new computing technologies for ML applications in ESOP’. Chiara Cocchiara, Senior Innovation Officer, chaired a session on ‘ML applications for Earth system’. Rosella Arcucci, Visiting Professor at Φ-lab, chaired a session on ‘Hybrid ML-Physics Based Systems for Data Assimilation and Weather and Climate Prediction’. Diego Jatobá Dos Santos and Ruben Cartuyvels presented posters about their work at Φ-lab.

EVE: making Earth observation knowledge accessible to everyone

Despite the wealth of Earth observation and Earth sciences knowledge, much of it is scattered across many different sources and formats and only accessible to experts. EVE (Earth Virtual Expert) is a new intelligent companion for exploring the world of Earth observation and Earth sciences that can explain both beginner and advanced concepts, guide users to trusted sources, summarise scientific documents and deliver insights on trends and tools, acting as a centralised platform for Earth observation and Earth sciences insights.

As the demand for Earth observation capabilities increases by the day, innovation must keep pace. Funded by ESA Φ-lab and implemented by OHB Digital Services, SPRINT4EO is a new initiative to create a rapid prototyping environment where small, focused teams work on breakthrough ideas, benefitting from technical expertise outside the traditional space sector.

Building on the success of the 2025 FDL Earth Systems Lab (ESL)’s research sprint, SHRUG-FM, a framework for reliability-aware prediction that enables geospatial foundation models to identify and abstain from likely failures, won ‘Best Paper Award’ at the EarthVision 2026 workshop that took place during the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2026 Conference.

Φ-TALKS

8 July – Φ-talks are back and the ESA Φ-lab Collaborative Innovation Network will host Gencer Sumbul for a talk on ‘Breaking Representation Barriers for Multimodal Earth Observation’.

19 - 21 October – Organised by the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD) and ESA Φ-lab, this workshop will convene researchers, practitioners and decision-makers from artificial intelligence, geospatial analytics, climate and weather sciences, remote sensing and space missions operations, providing a platform for exchange, discussion and collaboration on the emerging role of agentic AI in Earth Observation.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD

External photos and images courtesy of Unsplash/Robynne O., ESA, ESA, DraF 2026, ETH Zurich, STAM, Hello Tomorrow, ESA, NASA, AI Week, ESA, ESA, ESA, Unsplash/Vimal S., ESA (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020)), ESA, ESA Collaborative Innovation Network, ESA.