On 17 October, STAM, as ESA Technology Broker for Italy, co-organised with the European Space Agency and Confindustria Moda Italia a one-day workshop at ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk dedicated to strengthening the dialogue between the space and textile sectors.
This initiative builds on the technology transfer activities that STAM is carrying out in close collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, and on the work jointly coordinated by Confindustria Moda and the Cluster Tecnologico Nazionale Aerospazio (CTNA).
The event brought together textile entrepreneurs and practitioners, ESA experts and Technology Brokers to explore how advanced materials, manufacturing processes and enabling technologies can be transferred and adapted between space and terrestrial applications.
As Roberto Cossu of ESA remarked, “For 35 years, the ESA Technology Broker network has facilitated technology transfer between the space and non-space industries, fostering innovation and new markets. Currently covering 12 ESA Member States, it helps space companies find terrestrial applications and vice versa. The Italian ESA Technology broker, managed by STAM, has identified the textile sector as a promising area for collaboration with space actors. The successful meeting held today will be followed by more meetings planned to define concrete projects.”
According to Mauro Sampellegrini of Confindustria Moda Italia, “Italian technical textiles represent a unique combination of creativity, engineering, and material science. The innovative capacity and craftsmanship of this sector enable it to respond to complex development needs and to propose advanced technologies with high added value. By connecting our industrial ecosystem with the European space sector, we are not only opening new opportunities for advanced applications but also reinforcing Europe’s technological sovereignty. Initiatives like this ESA-ESTEC meeting demonstrate how cross-fertilisation between space and textile innovation can accelerate the transition towards safer, smarter, and more sustainable materials.”
“The cross-sector collaboration between textile and space players has the potential to address the challenges of future missions while delivering innovative solutions on Earth. Through the proactive moderation of space experts and textile practitioners, my colleagues Mattia Muracchioli and Antonio Altana were able to capture a number of promising business cases that will be further explored in the coming weeks together with other ESA Technology Brokers,” said Stefano Carosio from STAM.
Through interactive sessions on space structures and wearable systems, participants co-created ideas and identified spin-in and spin-off technology transfer opportunities that could evolve into concrete collaborative projects.
Building on these results, a shared roadmap will be developed in the coming months to foster new partnerships, promote joint initiatives with space companies, and strengthen the connection between the textile and space sectors in driving innovation for Earth and beyond.
