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The ESA Φ-lab Newsletter #20 | March 2026

JOIN US FOR THE 3RD ESA EARTH OBSERVATION COMMERCIALISATION FORUM

Dear Φ-lab community,

The 3rd ESA Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum (ESA CommEO) is just around the corner. Join us in Seville, from 12 to 14 May 2026 to explore the global Earth observation ecosystem and the latest trends arising in the Earth observation commercial market.

Organised by ESA Φ-lab and supported by the Spanish Space Agency, the Forum will feature an engaging programme including keynote speeches, panel discussions, exhibitor booths, and curated matchmaking opportunities designed to foster new partnerships and boost commercial growth within the Earth observation sector.

For the first time, the event will count with special sponsorship opportunities. A dedicated exhibition area, open throughout the event, will provide a unique platform for organisations to showcase cutting-edge Earth observation solutions, products, and services to an international audience of industry leaders, investors, and decision-makers.

Whether you are looking for venture capital, technical collaborators or new customers, the event’s 1-on-1 matchmaking sessions ensure you connect with the right stakeholders to scale your Earth observation solutions.

The 3rd CommEO Award, powered by ESA and Creative Destruction Lab Milan (CDL-Milan), is back! This co-created competition is designed for ambitious, early-stage startups looking to anchor their technical innovation in a robust commercial strategy.

And because a great event goes beyond the conference rooms, you will have the opportunity to relax and network in an informal way during the Gala Dinner and the guided Social Event through Seville’s iconic plazas.

What are you waiting for? Register for the event and join us for three days of insight, innovation, and high-level networking.

See you in Seville,
The Φ-lab team

LATEST FROM THE LAB

ELLIS WINTER SCHOOL 2026

16 - 20 March – Held at the National Technical University of Athens (Greece) and co-organised by Unit Jena, the ELLIS Winter School brings together researchers, practitioners, and students to advance the integration of artificial intelligence with Earth and climate sciences. Sabrina Ricci, AI Ecosystem Coordinator at Φ-lab, gave a high-level outreach talk on ‘AI for Earth at Scale: From Scientific Breakthroughs to Societal Impact’ and Mounia El Baz, Earth Observation Digital Innovation Engineer at Φ-lab, presented a technical keynote speech.

A new ESA Φ-lab Challenge just launched: ‘ClearSAR – Track 1’. Together with KP Labs, Telespazio, Bias Variance Labs and the Silesian University of Technology, ESA Φ-lab Challenges invites you to join a new Challenge focused on improving the quality and reliability of Copernicus Sentinel-1 SAR data to enhance its use for science, innovation, and commercial applications.

21 - 22 January – Φ-labbers Sabrina Ricci and Chiara Cocchiara attended the 2026 edition of AI Festival at Bocconi University in Milan (Italy), a premier international event on Artificial Intelligence connecting the Italian AI ecosystem with global markets. This year’s theme was ‘Empowering the Agentic Era’.

SPRINT4EO establishes an agile framework to bring the latest key technologies quickly and practically into Earth observation. As part of the ESA Φ-lab initiative ‘EO Foresight Exploratory Sprints’, innovative players from innovative sectors are involved in short, results-oriented research sprints in order to accelerate spin-ins into EO and strengthen Europe's competitiveness. This initiative is specifically looking for start-ups, SMEs and research groups with disruptive technologies (AI, XR, sensor technology, quantum) who would like to test their solutions in EO applications.

Using Φ-lab’s machine learning algorithms to fight mosquito-borne outbreaks in Brazil and Peru

As the number of dengue and malaria cases rises each year, governments and health authorities are in a race against time. DIRE (Disease Incidence and Resource Estimator) is a digital, predictive data analysis and visualisation platform that transforms climate and epidemiological data into a concrete operational roadmap by using a machine learning approach developed by ESA Φ-lab for UNICEF. This platform will help governments in high-burden regions like Brazil and Peru to shift from reactive crisis management to proactive, life-saving preparation.

Foundation models are enabling new ways to use Earth observation data, but most existing models struggle to handle data from diverse sensors and are limited to fixed patch sizes. This makes them hard to use in real-world applications that require flexibility. Funded by ESA Φ-lab and developed by the Norwegian Computing Centre, THOR is a new foundation model designed to overcome both the challenges of heterogeneous inputs and rigid deployment constraints.

‘ESA INCUBED AMBASSADOR FOR ITALY’ DAY

28 April – ESA Φ-lab, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and STAM (ESA InCubed Ambassador) are back for a full-day co-creation workshop targeting start-ups, SMEs, industry leaders, investors, clusters and non-space companies to connect Earth observation capabilities with real market needs. Stay tuned for more information.

3RD ESA EARTH OBSERVATION COMMERCIALISATION FORUM

12 - 14 May – Held in Seville, Spain, the 3rd ESA Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum will give 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.

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. Stop by the ESA Φ-lab booth and discover more about our work with Φ-labber Sabrina Ricci. Claudio Iacopino, Head of the Φ-lab Explore Office, will give a talk on the main stage. Representing InCubed, Φ-labber José Manuel Delgado Blasco will present a business-focused session.

23 - 25 June – Held at ESA-ESRIN (Frascati, Italy), Φnnovation Summit brings together forward-thinking researchers, bold entrepreneurs, and technology pioneers to explore the future of Earth observation. Framed around groundbreaking ideas and transformative innovation, this gathering will spotlight disruptive technologies and approaches that could redefine the future of Earth Observation, exploiting transformative innovations like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Quantum, Neuromorphic, Edge and Bio-inspired Computing, Metamaterials and Surfaces, Immersive Visualisation, Cognitive Space, Computational Imaging, and many more. Know more about the event and register using the link below.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD

External photos and images courtesy of ESA, Ellis Winter School, ESA Φ-lab Challenges, AI Festival, OHB Digital Services, Unsplash/ Vimal S., Unsplash/John Cameron, Unsplash/Mark Kӧnig, ESA, ESA, AI WEEK, ESA.