SpaceQuip Journal has taken part as event media partner to the second edition of Space Meetings Veneto, the international conference and business meetings dedicated to the Space Industry, which took place in Venice, May 20-22, 2024. In the following lines, a brief followup of the event.
The second edition of Space Meetings Veneto, the international event brought together the main global operators of the space economy and emerging technology sectors in Venice from May 20-22, 2024, to discuss the latest developments in the world of satellite applications, innovative technologies, supply chain, and investments.
The event has been articultated during three intense days of B2B meetings, discussions on the application of space technologies in complementary sectors which can derive innovations and opportunities from the aerospace supply chain to launch new products on Earth in the sports, fashion, health, and agriculture industries.
As has outlined Luca Zaia, President of the Veneto Region, the event has also put at the centre:
Young European innovators and ideas to protect and enhance the nine UNESCO World Heritage sites recognized in Veneto. In Venice, we have hosted an event that stands out as unique at the national level and has proven to be a great opportunity for a district that is advancing rapidly. The New Space Economy of Veneto is a system that is demonstrating its ability to look to the future together with institutions and a top-level academic world capable of attracting investments and fostering international talents and professionals.”
Given the success of the initiative, the third edition has already been confirmed and will take place from May 19-21, 2025, again in Venice.
The final numbers for the 2024 edition:
- 3,000 attendees including visitors, exhibitors, and students (1,700 attendees in 2023)
- 5,000 B2B meetings organized (2,300 meetings in 2023)
- 250 aerospace companies from 25 different countries (122 companies from 15 countries in 2023)
- 150 Italian and international buyers (110 buyers in 2023)
- 25 European startups
- 150 speakers
- 50 panels
“This second edition of Space Meetings Veneto,” said Federico Zoppas, President of RIR AIR (Aerospace, Innovation & Research), “recorded truly significant numbers, exceeding our expectations in terms of the response from companies, international buyers, the public, and young people, many of whom animated this three-day event both as visitors and as experts and startuppers. It is an event in which we will continue to invest and which we want to grow further, including at a technical level, to make it an international reference point. This will also be possible thanks to the fundamental support of the Veneto Region, which, like us, firmly believes that the New Space Economy is one of the strategic drivers for the industrial and economic development of the region, as well as one of the catalysts in terms of investments for the development of new and ambitious projects.”
Futhermore, Zoppas has affirmed his optimism about the outcome of the event:
“From the many panels and meetings we have organised, it has emerged very clearly that the technologies and application solutions that are developing around the Space theme are pervasive and now embrace many areas and sectors with new and until recently unexpected synergies and contaminations.”
As Zoppas affirmed, the event represents a real acceleration for research, for skills, for innovation, for the employment of new generations. Since last year, RIR AIR has grown further by involving very different companies and realities that want to network and enrich the supply chain. Today we can boast a solid ecosystem that has also attracted the interest of major players who have come to Venice to meet us and forge new alliances. The opportunities are ‘infinite and beyond’ and we are ready to seize them.
One of the highlights of the event will be the inaugural event of ESABIC Padua, the new Italian node of the ESA (European Space Agency) Business Incubator Centres, which will be managed by Officina Stellare in collaboration with Galileo Visionary District, the incubator of the University of Padua. The aim of the project is the creation of entrepreneurial value through an unprecedented incubation model, offering start-ups with high content in the space sector visibility and access to an international network of partners and investors.
Space Meetings Veneto was made possible thanks to the commitment of the Veneto Region and the Regional Innovative Network AIR – Aerospace Innovation and Research, which have mapped and connected all the excellences of the territory to build a real ‘ecosystem’ that sees the collaboration of public bodies, universities, research centres and companies, and that has made Veneto one of the main regions in Italy in the aerospace supply chain, which moves about 2 billion euros in turnover and employs more than 5,000 people in 65 companies. The event was co-organised by abe – advanced business events – an international company specialising in business conventions for the aerospace and defence sectors.
