Europe needs a strong commercial space sector to drive innovation and economic growth. One way ESA supports this ambition is through its Third Party Missions (TPMs) programme.

Over the past 45 years, ESA's TPM programme has supported dozens of companies within ESA Member States. It currently sources data from more than 60 missions, which are made available to users for research and development purposes as well as business incubation activities. By doing so, ESA promotes the availability of commercial Earth observation (EO) data, including in emerging data domains, so that they are offered through a single programme, making them more accessible to many users worldwide.

Discussions at the EO Commercialisation Forum, held in Frankfurt on 27-28 November 2024, highlighted the important role of TPM data in boosting Europe's space sector.

"ESA's role as a customer has become an important mechanism to support commercialisation," said Peggy Fischer, ESA's Earth observation (EO) Third Party Missions Manager at the Forum.

Through agreements with commercial data owners in Europe, ESA acts as a customer, buying data from companies and then making them available to users. This bridge creates a win-win situation: it supports companies by providing a reliable revenue stream, and it supports users by streamlining access to a diverse portfolio of data. Examples of commercial Third Party Missions currently offered by ESA include Pléiades Neo, Spire, GHGSat, ICEYE and PlanetScope.

More recently, ESA's TPM programme has paid more attention to space start-up companies. These companies are emerging within the European New Space ecosystem and are having an increasing impact on the European EO industry. 

ESA's TPM programme capitalises on — and promotes — commercial advances in remote sensing by working with these emerging New Space startups. The agency's main goal is to support companies from ESA Member States. 

By partnering with new companies, ESA helps them to expand their reach, acting as an initial customer for the data and allowing the data to be promoted within the European user community. 

This infographic highlights how ESA is encouraging commercial advances in remote sensing by working with these organisations, including emerging New Space startups: 

New Space companies are bringing new data types to the table, including hyperspectral imaging, thermal-infrared and atmospheric composition data. Through initiatives like the TPM programme, ESA makes these new, important insights more accessible to European scientists, engineers and users across Europe and beyond. After all, data become truly powerful only when they reach the right hands — and the TPM programme ensures this happens.

Additionally, the inclusion of these missions in ESA's TPM programme underscores their compliance with the agency's rigorous data quality standards. This added trust strengthens commercial providers' ability to secure new business and drive growth.

"By engaging with different commercial players, ESA helps to build confidence in these data provider companies and potentially helps to bring new investors and customers to the companies the agency works with," added Fischer.

To date, the TPM programme has supported 35 companies who are working with ESA as part of ESA’s business incubation activities and the aim is to continue to provide such support. ESA is always on the lookout for commercial data opportunities and aims to continually expand its data portfolio to meet the evolving needs of the user community. 

"We see a lot of opportunities; we see new players coming into the market all the time and, budget permitting, we want to bring them on board," concluded Peggy Fischer.

Download the Third Party Missions data access guide to learn more about the growing range of data offered through the programme.