Space industry in Belgium

The Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO), established in 1959, serves as the coordinating body for space activities within Belgium and manages the nation’s participation in the European Space Agency (ESA) programs. BELSPO’s core function is to support and finance both space science and technology development initiatives, acting as a central point for Belgian contributions to broader international space efforts. Beyond space, BELSPO has a broad remit encompassing support for federal scientific institutions and museums, and the management of the Belgian telematics network, Belnet. However, within the space sector, its key capability lies in coordinating national resources and channeling funding towards research and development, and facilitating Belgium’s involvement in ESA projects. While specific missions or customer details aren’t explicitly highlighted, BELSPO’s role as the national coordinating body for ESA programs positions it as a vital link between Belgian research institutions, industry, and the wider European space landscape. This coordination ensures Belgium actively participates in and benefits from European space initiatives. BELSPO’s unique value proposition lies in its holistic approach to science policy, integrating space activities within a broader national research framework. This allows for cross-disciplinary innovation and ensures that investments in space technology contribute to wider societal and economic goals within Belgium.

Aerospacelab is a Belgian satellite manufacturer building standardized, high-performance satellite platforms optimized for constellation deployment. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, the company is constructing what it describes as Europe's largest satellite factory to support high-rate production. Aerospacelab's VSP (Very Small Platform) product family spans VSP-50 (50 kg), VSP-150 (150 kg), and VSP-300 (300 kg) configurations, designed for Earth observation, communications, and science missions. The company has secured contracts with the Belgian Defense department, ESA, and multiple commercial constellation operators. Aerospacelab has raised over €50M from investors including Verlinvest and the Wallonia regional government and is scaling toward production rates of dozens of satellites per year.

Antwerp Space

Antwerp, Belgium commercial

Antwerp Space, founded in 1963 and based in Antwerp, Belgium, is a leading provider of satellite ground segment solutions specializing in radio frequency (RF) applications. As part of the larger European space and technology group, OHB SE, the company delivers satellite communication, navigation, and radar solutions, alongside instruments for scientific and exploration missions. Their product portfolio includes offerings for radio science, navigation (PNT payloads for small satellites), communication systems, and solutions for radio frequency interference detection and mitigation. Antwerp Space’s core competencies lie in high-frequency design, digital signal processing, software-defined radio, and photonics, continually reinforced through dedicated investment. This expertise positions them as a recognized market leader in these technical areas. Notably, the company has contributed to significant missions, including the development of the Communication Subsystem for the Ariel space mission and providing technology for communication with the JUICE mission. Furthermore, Antwerp Space developed the Lander Radioscience (LaRa) instrument, the first scientific instrument originating from Belgium to successfully land on another celestial body. The company actively participates in industry events and conferences, demonstrating its commitment to innovation and collaboration within the space sector.

AnyShape

Villers-le-Bouillet, Belgium commercial

AnyShape is a Belgium-based aerospace additive manufacturing company certified to ISO 9001 and EN 9100 (the aerospace quality management system standard), specializing in selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM) metal additive manufacturing (3D printing) of complex aerospace-grade components for propulsion, structures, and radio frequency applications. AnyShape's customer portfolio centers on major European aerospace primes: Airbus, Safran (propulsion and aircraft equipment divisions), ArianeGroup (Ariane launch vehicles), and ESA, for whom AnyShape manufactures flight-intent and qualification hardware. Specific product categories include rocket thruster chambers and injector heads — where the geometric freedom of additive manufacturing enables internal cooling channel geometries that would be impossible or prohibitively expensive with conventional subtractive machining — and RF antenna structures and waveguide components, where complex internal geometry optimized for electromagnetic performance can be printed as single monolithic parts rather than assembled from multiple machined pieces. AnyShape collaborates with ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, Netherlands on advanced material development, specifically focusing on titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) parameters for space applications, including qualification testing of additively manufactured titanium structures for fracture mechanics, fatigue life, and vacuum thermal cycling performance. This research collaboration reflects the broader European space industry effort to qualify AM processes for flight hardware, reducing costs and lead times versus traditional forging and machining. Additive manufacturing's principal advantages for space hardware are design freedom (complex internal channels, lattice structures, topology-optimized geometries), reduced part count (consolidating multi-piece assemblies into single prints), and faster iteration cycles for development programs — critical when rocket programs need rapid design changes without retooling. Lead time advantages are particularly significant for components with complex geometries that previously required months of machining. AnyShape operates in a growing European AM-for-aerospace ecosystem alongside peers like AddUp (France), Elementum 3D (US), and RUAG's AM division (Switzerland). Belgian manufacturing expertise and proximity to ESA's ESTEC facilities position AnyShape well in the European aerospace supply chain.

EDGX is a Ghent, Belgium-based startup, founded in 2023 by CEO Nick Destrycker and CTO/COO Wouter Benoot, that builds radiation-hardened, AI-capable onboard computers for satellites. Its flagship Sterna computer, built around Nvidia Jetson hardware, and its Morus computer and SpaceFeather software are designed to let satellite operators process imagery and sensor data in orbit and downlink actionable insights rather than raw data, targeting Earth observation, satellite communications and in-orbit servicing customers across commercial, governmental and defence markets. The company says it went from concept to its first in-orbit hardware within about two years of founding. EDGX closed a €2.3 million seed round in August 2025, backed by the Belgian early-stage funds imec.istart and the Flanders Future Tech Fund, alongside institutional backers including VITO, Belspo, the European Defence Fund, Ariane Group, the European Commission and EESA. The company has also reported a €1.1 million multi-unit commercial contract with an undisclosed satellite operator and additional undisclosed government and institutional contracts, and has completed radiation-resilience testing of its hardware. EDGX's computers have already flown: an Early Bird demonstration mission and a Leaving the Nest mission both launched in February 2026 on a SpaceX Falcon 9, and the company describes a further Earth Spotting mission flying in December 2026. Separately, EDGX hardware was carried as part of the SEOPS-integrated Transporter-16 rideshare mission in March 2026, giving the company actual on-orbit flight heritage for its edge-computing products rather than hardware still in development.

nxgsat is a Belgian startup, founded by Alain Rolle and Frederik Simoens, that develops interoperable 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) satellite modem technology intended to let terrestrial and multi-orbit satellite networks work together using standardized, cloud-native, software-defined architecture. The company positions its technology as a way to reduce the cost and complexity of connecting LEO, MEO and GEO satellite links into existing 5G mobile networks through open, vendor-neutral interfaces rather than proprietary modem designs, and it participates in Belgium's 5G/6G NTN Hub. In October 2025 nxgsat secured a €1.2 million (about $1.4 million) funding round led by PMV, the Flemish government's investment company, and the imec.istart future fund, a Belgian early-stage technology accelerator fund. At the time of the announcement the company said it had already secured commercial and governmental contracts within the space sector, and it has stated an ambition to contribute its modem technology to the European Union's IRIS² sovereign LEO/MEO satellite constellation programme. As of its most recent public disclosure, nxgsat had roughly 15 employees. The company is small relative to established satellite-modem suppliers, but its focus on standardized 5G NTN interoperability - rather than a single proprietary satellite network - and its existing contract base distinguish it from a purely pre-revenue research project.