Introduced in 2021 by ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher, ESA Accelerators – Space for a Green Future, Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response, and the Protection of Space Assets – were identified as the main thematic areas of action on how to drive Europe’s innovation and use of space to solve wider societal issues.

Josef Aschbacher explained, “Space is witnessing global changes and undergoing a fundamental transformation and ESA is ready to take on this challenge. The three Accelerators, Space for a Green Future, Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response and the Protection of Space Assets, have been identified and chosen by the High-Level Advisory Group as the priorities for Europe’s collective efforts to increase the use of space for the benefit of its citizens, the environment and the economy.”

The Space for a Green Future Accelerator will deliver actionable information, assessing scenarios for policy implementation and tailored services for European decisionmakers to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and establish global leadership in the competition for a rapidly emerging green economy. In doing do, it will also contribute to the European social and economic well-being, minimising the socio-environmental impacts caused by climate change.

Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, said, “The ‘Space for a Green Future’ Accelerator will provide European decision-makers, industry, and society with essential tools and solutions to support a sustainable Green Transition towards a carbon-neutral, resource-efficient and resilient society. It will stimulate the development, deployment and use of advanced data, science, technology, applications and services for a sustainable life on Earth.”