- Juan Carlos Cortés, director of the Spanish Space Agency and Speaker of Honor, and ESA astronaut Pablo Álvarez, Guest of Honor, will share the stage at the opening of the event with a vision on the future of space exploration.
- New Space & Solutions will make an exclusive live connection to the International Space Station. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will pass the baton to pilot Nichole Ayers, with whom the connection will be established in real time.
- This first edition will be held from March 17 to 21, 2025, with two face-to-face sessions at the Cartuja Auditorium -managed by Yventu- and three virtual sessions.
- The event is organized by Medina Media Events in collaboration with public and private entities, highlighting the support of the Department of University, Research and Innovation of the Andalusian Regional Government and the City Council of Seville.
The first edition of New Space & Solutions will kick off tomorrow to consolidate Seville as the epicenter of the aerospace sector. From March 17 to 21, the Andalusian capital will host this event that will bring together professionals, experts and leaders of the aerospace sector, astronauts, university professors, companies, organizations, associations and institutional representatives in a space for meeting and debate on the future of exploration and innovation in space. The event is organized by Medina Media Events in collaboration with public and private entities, especially highlighting the support of the Regional Ministry of University, Research and Innovation and the City of Seville.
The Spanish Space Agency and astronaut Pablo Álvarez
Seville, headquarters of the Spanish Space Agency (AEE) since 2024, is consolidating its position as a benchmark in the aerospace industry. Its director, Juan Carlos Cortés, will be Speaker of Honor on the opening day of New Space & Solutions, where he will present the work developed by the ESA since its creation in 2023.
Cortés will share the stage with Spanish ESA astronaut Pablo Álvarez in a talk on space exploration and the future of manned missions. Alvarez, one of ESA’s five tenured astronauts, is in the midst of preparing to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) before 2030.
The event will bring together leading international space agencies, including NASA, ESA, JAXA, ASI (Italian Space Agency) and Portugal Space, consolidating Seville as a benchmark for New Space. Dylan Mathis (NASA) will discuss the transition of the ISS to a commercial model in low Earth orbit (LEO), in a session that will include a live connection to the International Space Station.
On March 17, New Space & Solutions will offer a live connection to the International Space Station (ISS) that is scheduled to feature pilot Nichole Ayers. During the broadcast, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will hand the baton to Ayers, with whom the connection will be established in real time, offering exclusive insight into life and work on the station in this mission-changing phase. This intervention will allow the event’s audience to witness live the challenges of space exploration at a key moment of transition onboard.
ESA will also have the participation of Sergio Tabasco, responsible for Industrial Policy, while Ricardo Conde, president of Portugal Space, and Carmen Aguilera (EUSPA) will analyze the impact of the space sector on daily life and the development of innovative solutions for different sectors.
After the consolidation of Seville as a reference in the aerospace industry in recent years, this forum will hold its two face-to-face sessions on Monday and Tuesday at the Cartuja Auditorium -managed by Yventu-, while the sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be virtual. The Andalusian capital assumed again in 2024 -as it already happened in 2019- the Presidency of the Community of Ariane Cities (CVA). In a few months, an incubator for technology-based start-ups specialized in the space field of the European Space Agency (ESA) will also be implemented. Thanks to this, and the fact that Seville is home to one of the most important aeronautical poles in Spain, the city is positioned as the ideal place to hold New Space & Solutions.
Commitment of the Junta de Andalucía with the ‘New Space’.
The Regional Government of Andalusia, through the Regional Ministry of University, Research and Innovation, reaffirms its commitment to the aerospace industry and technological innovation in the region with a prominent presence at New Space & Solutions. Lorena Garrido, Deputy Minister of University, will participate in the opening ceremony and on Wednesday 19 will moderate the virtual panel ‘Defense and Space: Convergence of Opportunities’, with leading companies in the sector. Also on Wednesday, Nieves Valenzuela, general director of Innovation Promotion, will present the Space Initiative ‘InnovAndalucía’, endowed with 59 million euros to promote business innovation in strategic sectors. On the second day, Antonio Posadas, general secretary of Research and Innovation, will lead the panel ‘Services: Agriculture, Cartography and Environment’, with experts from AGAPA, the Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Environment. In addition, Jesús Boby Alcaide (CATEC) will address the impact of emerging technologies such as embedded AI, automation and additive manufacturing. Jorge Paradela, Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Andalusia, will also be present at the opening session.
Seville City Council reaffirms its support for the aerospace sector
Alvaro Pimentel, Deputy Mayor of Seville, will be in charge of inaugurating and welcoming to the Andalusian capital all the participants, speakers, experts, professionals, institutions, organizations and companies of the aerospace and satellite sector that will meet at the Cartuja Auditorium in an event that will be attended by the Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz.
The presence of the Seville City Council on the opening day will include a round table discussion entitled ‘Boosting the space sector in Seville’ moderated by Fernando Mañes, vice-president delegate of the CVA presidency of the Seville City Council. Josechu Ferreras, director of the Seville Space Forum; Eva Díaz, director of business development at ALTER Technology; Rafael Vázquez Valenzuela, professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Seville; and Jesús Boby, director of Intelligent Industry at the Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies (CATEC) will participate. The city council will again be the protagonist in the first virtual day, Wednesday, March 19, with an interview with Fernando Mañes and Antonio Villegas, general director of Economic Promotion, Business Parks and Science of the Seville City Council. In this talk, they will analyze the impact of Seville assuming the Presidency of the Community of Ariane Cities (CVA) in 2024 and the significance for the Andalusian capital of the implementation of the incubator for emerging technology-based space companies of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) will show in the first edition of ‘New Space & Solutions’ its absolute commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship in the Spanish space sector. Teresa Riesgo, General Secretary of Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, will present during the opening day the results of several initiatives implemented.
Innovative projects in the space sector
‘New Space & Solutions’ will be a key meeting point to discuss the future of the space sector, with a special focus on sustainability, digitalization, the application of new technologies in the exploration and use of space, the training of qualified personnel and the needs of companies for specialized labor, as well as making female talent visible in the aerospace industry.
Miguel Ángel García Primo, General Manager of Hisdesat, will speak during the inaugural day of ‘New Space & Solutions’ about SpainSat NG I, a new generation military communications satellite developed by this Spanish company to guarantee the security and operability of the Spanish Armed Forces and their NATO allies.
On the opening day, Gema Martín del Burgo, president of the Association ‘Ellas Vuelan Alto’, will moderate a panel called ‘New Space: A new horizon for the space industry in terms of diversity’ with the participation of Ana María Marín Pérez, director of AEE’s Technical Office; Marcia Arizaga, communications director of ALTER Technology; and Lucía Fonseca de la Bella, director of Strategic Projects in the aerospace sector at the University of Surrey.
A first class agenda
The list of participants in the opening day includes Yasuhito Uto, CEO of BULL, a company that is developing a device that autonomously prevents the generation of space debris from satellites and other spacecraft. Also, Juan Peña, CEO of Orbital; Eva Díaz, Director of Business Development at ALTER Technology; Jose Tórtola, co-founder and VP of Operations at PARSEC; Sergi Giménez Binder, lawyer specialized in aerospace law and partner at Augusta Abogados; and David Sanjuán, commercial applications engineer at Kistler Ibérica.
Likewise, Eduardo Valencia, director of Electronics Industry, New Entrepreneurship and Territorial Development of Ametic will moderate a panel called ‘Satellite Applications’ with the participation of Javier García, director of downstream services partners of Open Cosmos; Javier Aquilino Izquierdo, director of Strategy of Hispasat; and Juan Alberto Vecino, director of Hi Iberia.
All presentations will be available for on-demand viewing through El Observatorio, the digital platform of Medina Media Events, where each conference will be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, free of charge.
The first edition of ‘New Space & Solutions’ is organized by Medina Media Events with the collaboration of the City of Seville and the Department of University, Research and Innovation of the Andalusian Regional Government and has the support of Rohde & Schwarz, ALTER, Ansys, Augusta Abogados, CT Ingenieros, DEKRA, Integrasys, Kistler, Orbital EOS, PARSEC, Proexca (Government of the Canary Islands), Space-Aero, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, CEU Universidad Fernando III, among others.