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Unclaimed
Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.
Grants

ESA Space Solutions Kick-Start activities

ESA Business Applications Kick-Start

Status

Status not published

ESA publishes thematic Kick-Start calls several times a year, each with a fixed deadline. Themes rotate (e.g. health, agriculture, energy, maritime, defence and security).

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Amount
€75,000

Kick-Start activities fund a short feasibility study (typically six months) with a ceiling commonly set at EUR 75,000 per activity, co-funded by ESA at up to 80% (the balance is the company's own contribution). Successful Kick-Starts can progress to a Demonstration Project worth substantially more.

You must co-fund 20%. Work out the cash you need

Funder

European Space Agency, Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement

public · supranational

Deadline: Fixed cut-off dates — ESA publishes thematic Kick-Start calls several times a year, each with a fixed deadline. Themes rotate (e.g. health, agriculture, energy, maritime, defence and security).

Your odds
Not published

This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.

Effort
major

Major bid — written case, budget, possibly partners.

You fund 20% yourself.

Who can apply

Company must be registered in an ESA Member State that has subscribed to the relevant programme element. The service must use space assets (satcom, satnav, Earth observation, human spaceflight technology) in a commercially viable way.

How to apply

  1. Check that your ESA Member State has subscribed to the relevant programme line and confirm national authorisation
  2. Register on ESA STAR and obtain a bidder code
  3. Respond to an open Kick-Start theme with the ESA proposal template
  4. Evaluation by ESA and the national delegation
  5. Contract signature and six-month activity

What you will need

Related reading: How grant deadlines actually work

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://commercialisation.esa.int/funding/ · not human-checked

Verified on 14 August 2026

Source: funder's homepage — the programme page was not found

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Paid, separate from Unclaimed

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