Space is one of the areas where Lithuania has made a strong entry. Today more than 30 Lithuanian companies participate in space supply chains, a number that is expected to more than double within the next five years. The space sector is one of the fastest growing with an annual growth of 6.7% per year. To the sky and beyond. “By participating in international Space programs, Lithuania proves it has a strong tech sciences ecosystem and high-tech industry needed for participation in the global space market”, says Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania.
In 2014, Lithuania turned a new page in its history of space technology with the launch of the first Lithuanian satellites. LituanicaSAT-1, developed by researchers at Vilnius University, and LitSat-1, built by a joint team of scientists from Kaunas University of Technology and Space Science and Technology Institute, were deployed from the International Space Station. Transmitting radio signals and images, both satellites served as a test bed for Lithuanian space technology. Established by the team behind LituanicaSAT-1, NanoAvionics is a satellite technology company with more than 110 successful satellite missions and commercial projects under its belt. Specializing in building nano and microsatellites–small-scale satellites weighing under 150 kilograms–and providing the whole infrastructure necessary for satellite missions, the company is a trusted partner for the most well-known players in the global space industry.
NanoAvionics is one of the founding members of the recently established space technology cluster at Visoriai Information Technology Park, a community of high-tech companies in Vilnius. Pooling the expertise and know-how of Lithuania’s most promising space industry players, the cluster seeks to speed up the development of new technologies and bring them to the global market. Among the cluster’s co-founding companies is Blackswan Space, a start-up that builds AI-driven satellite autonomy solutions. Such autonomous systems offer a major advantage in on-orbit servicing missions, such as inspections, repairs, and refueling, and help to tackle sustainability issues in the space environment, such as space debris. Alongside technological development, the start-up also focuses on commercializing its solution and has recently completed a leading European accelerator programme Fit 4 Start in Luxembourg.
In 2021, Lithuania became an associate member of the European Space Agency (ESA). This brings new opportunities to Lithuanian scientists and space technology companies. The country is now in the process of establishing a European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC). BICs are the largest network of space incubators in Europe. The main objective of ESA BICs is to support entrepreneurs with a space-based business idea, thereby creating and growing clusters of space-related start-ups across Europe. All ESA BICs are managed by local champions who connect their ESA BICs to their local industry, universities, research organizations, government, and investor communities, while also maintaining strong regional/national links. This makes the ESA BICs very well embedded in the local communities as well as the place of choice for all space-related innovation and business.