On 17 September, as ESA Technology Broker Italy, STAM organised with the European Space Agency – ESA the seminar Space2Tex – From Space to Textile and Back, in the framework of the ESA Industry Days at ESA/ESTEC.
ESA experts, textile companies, space industry professionals and researchers came together to explore how cross-sector contamination of technologies, expertise and know-how can create value for both the textile and space sectors.
🔹Malgorzata Holynska (ESA) presented space mission requirements and ESA activities related to technical textiles.
🔹Jan Persson (ESA/HRE) introduced the future lunar exploration roadmap.
🔹ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer shared insights into the LUNA analogue facility and the challenges associated with spacesuits and future human exploration.
The dialogue between space and non-space actors continued in the panel Barriers, Enablers & Project Opportunities, moderated by Anilkumar Dave and featuring Matthias Maurer, Stefano Carosio, Paolo Canonico (SAATI), Mauro Sampellegrini (Confindustria Moda) and Judith Bosch (Textile ETP).
The discussion moved beyond identifying opportunities: it explored how ideas can become concrete collaborations and projects. Textile companies already active in the space sector shared lessons learnt, while newcomers had the opportunity to present their technologies to a space-savvy audience and explore how their capabilities could respond to the needs of future space missions.
Textile players discovered concrete opportunities in space, while space actors gained a clearer view of what textile innovation can bring to their challenges.
Thank you to all speakers, partners and participants who contributed to the discussion.
