Oceans play a crucial role in upholding economies, providing food and energy, enabling transport routes, and preserving life on Earth. In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on oceans in various global, national, and regional initiatives. Currently, maritime activities significantly contribute to our economic well-being. For instance, the European Union's blue economy alone is responsible for around 4.5 million direct jobs and generates an annual gross added value of nearly €650 billions. Therefore, safeguarding our oceans and the economies they underpin is a top priority on the international agenda. This involves addressing challenges such as resource over-exploitation, pollution, and the impacts of ocean warming to ensure the continued presence of clean, thriving, and sustainable oceans.

In this thematic call, the tenderer is invited to submit ideas to develop sustainable Earth Observation related products (upstream and/or downstream) addressing challenges in the Maritime domain. 

Areas of Interest for the Incubed Maritime Call

• Security and Emergency

Dedicated maritime authorities such as coastguards or port authorities want to use EO to identify and counteract illegal activities. Such activities can be environmental, i.e., illegal oil spilling, dumping at high sea, economic i.e., contraband trafficking or pose a threat to national security. Vessels can turn off their AIS (Automatic Identification System) and other identification systems to hide their criminal activities, e.g., transport of illicit goods, human trafficking. EO can be used as a separate data source to detect such vessels. Other users are NGOs that monitor illegal fishing, human trafficking, etc. When it comes to prevention, preparation, execution and post-event analysis of emergency situations, users need swift access to the latest EO imagery to understand the extension of the damage from the event, identify the hot spots, flag the dangerous locations, etc

• Finance and Insurance

Financial institutions, investors, asset managers, investment banks/funds and insurance companies can use EO when venturing into a new business to gain awareness of related financial/insurance-related risks. Reinsurers, insurers, and catastrophe modelling companies’ core activity relies on evaluating the levels of risk exposure, using probabilistic approaches of the events, exploiting historical data, and performing climate reanalyses over several years. EO can aid in this. Commodity traders and investors, to develop their trading strategies, want to assess, through specific indicators, market variations of extracted/produced natural resources (i.e., oil & gas, wheat, mineral resources, etc). They also want to assess movements in the value chain, from the location and availability of raw materials to transportation, storage and/or retailing. Again, EO can help in detecting/monitoring some of these indicators.

• Renewable Energies

Renewable energy project developers and investors can use EO to identify the most suitable areas for the exploitation of renewable energy sources, plan their development and monitor their integrity/status. Energy assets are exposed to a variety of natural risks which can put at danger the people working on site or, damage equipment or negatively impact production. For offshore sites, risks include sub-surface currents, iceberg detection, or heavy winds. As well as immediate dangers, it is also important to know the expected future risks under climate change scenarios, as this can guide future prevention measures. EO can help in this. Renewable energy project developers and operators also need to monitor the environmental impact of their activity on the surrounding area. EO can help ensure they comply with legislation or meet industry standards. EO data may also be used in support of environmental impact certification.

• Construction 

EO-enabled marine surveying and mapping of the seabed and coastal areas is important to determining prospective infrastructure sites. Construction companies, infrastructure owners and operators must have the guarantee that the site selected for the construction is not exposed to natural or anthropogenic factors which would put at risk the integrity of the infrastructure in the short, medium, and long term. EO can aid in achieving this. EO can help construction companies in continuously monitoring the progress achieved on construction sites and in reporting on this progress to their clients (e.g., infrastructure owners / operators). Infrastructure owners and operators may have to justify, depending on local/regional/national legislation, that their infrastructure has no (or a limited) impact on the environment, both during and after the construction phase. EO can help in monitoring these impacts.

• Transportation

The shipping sector encompasses a wide range of actors: container ships, tankers, cruise ships, passenger ferries, recreational vessels and technical vessels that supply the offshore industry. They all want safe routes in a maritime environment that sees increasing number of vessels under changing political and environmental circumstances. EO can aid in this through accurate MetOcean forecasts and particularly when it comes to sea ice navigation due to the dynamic phenomenon whereby ship lanes open and close across time. EO-assisted navigation can be used by ships to manoeuvre into/around ports. Customs and port authorities can ensure that legitimate trade can flow freely and smoothly, whilst preventing trafficking and smuggling of illegal or dangerous goods. Satellite image and value-added products reinforce authorities’ capacity to maintain oversight and streamline port operations (transhipment between vessels).

• Pollution Monitoring 

Maritime and ports authorities can use EO to monitor pollution and improve water quality to comply with various regulations. Other users such as in the recreational and tourist sector need to monitor their own emissions and forecast water quality. Shipping companies and offshore infrastructure managers/developers use EO data to measure and monitor surrounding habitats and pollution from increased vessel traffic or release of contaminants from seabed sediments during construction. Conservation groups and NGOs are interested in using the data to ensure maritime actors are remaining sustainable in their operations.

• Fisheries and Aquaculture

Fishing companies can face the need to improve the sustainability of their activities due to overfishing and stock fluctuations. This leads to an important need for gains in efficiency in detecting and managing fish stock, assessing fish shoals, managing fishing fleets, including maintaining or improving safety and security. EO can be used in these applications. Moreover, national, regional, and international fishing authorities need to manage fish stocks, defining restrictions efficiently and sustainably on the catch amount and indicating legal fishing areas or permanently/temporarily limiting fishing activities if needed. Aquaculture stakeholders can use EO in offshore site selection, and in monitoring operations and water quality. Various types of actors are potential end-users of solutions helping to combat IUU by shifting towards a more transparent, sustainable, and controlled global fishing industry. National, regional, and international fishing authorities use EO to efficiently monitor and control IUU to avoid economic and environmental loss created by such uncontrolled practices. Rising environmental concerns and awareness of practices and consequences of IUU has resulted in NGOs contributing to the IUU control at global level (e.g., Global Fishing Watch)

*Further information can be found in the attached documents bellow.

Incubed Process: 

In the present campaign, the tenderer is invited to propose activities addressing one of the seven areas on interest detailed above.

• The tenderer shall identify and involve potential customers who will actively participate to the requirements definition and to the pilot demonstration (pilot is mandatory only for product development cycle).
• The proposed product shall be tailored on customers needs.
• Ideas proposing only a De-Risking Cycle only will not be accepted.
• De-risking cycle shall be proposed as functional to the product development cycle.
• Outcome of the Product Development Cycle activity shall be a minimum viable product (TRL 7)
• The proposed idea shall present a strong potential to become commercial in the short/medium term.

The OSIP Channel is a mean for the Tenderer to provide an initial iteration on the content and justification of the planned InCubed activity; it is meant to facilitate the submission of the Idea Pitch and, after that, of the Proposal Part 1 [Outline]. The submission is already structured as required for both steps.

Ideas could be marked as confidential and in such case they will not be shared within ESA or the rest of the community, only the InCubed team will have access to them. 

The overview of the process is presented for information and completeness below. Please also refer to the Frequently Asked Questions -page https://incubed.esa.int/faq-list/ on the InCubed website.  

Proposals can be submitted before the deadline.    

First step: Pitch your Idea 

• Fill in the Idea Pitch form; ESA will check if your activity is aligned with the campaign and if you qualify for InCubed co-funding. National delegation(s) will be involved in the loop and decide if they support the idea.   
• You will be offered the possibility to pitch your idea in a 15 minutes session.
• A successful idea pitch, with agreement from the supporting national delegation(s) will be invited to fill in and submit Proposal Part 1 [Outline] on the InCubed Channel. 

The following steps are reported here for completeness but will be done either on the InCubed Channel or on ESA-star 

Second Step: Submit Proposal Part 1 [Outline] 

• Fill in the InCubed Proposal Part 1 [Outline]InCubed Channel for assessment 
• ESA will provide comments directly onto your proposal following InCubed assessment criteria (a reduced numbers and scope of the InCubed assessment criteria will be used being Part 1 covering only parts of the proposal, the details of these criteria can be found at the bottom of this page)  .
• If the assessment is positive then you will be  will be invited to submit Proposal Part 2 [Full]; the submission shall not exceed 4 or 6 weeks after such communications from ESA (depending on the activity economic value). 

Third Step: Submit Proposal Part 2 [Full] 

• Fill in the inCubed Proposal Part 2 [Full] and submit it through ESA-Star.
• ESA will evaluate your proposal following InCubed assessment criteria.
• Successful proposals will be invited to a negotiation meeting and possibly to the contract kick-off.

What is InCubed? 

InCubed stands for “Investing in Industrial Innovation" and its focus is on developing innovative and commercially viable products and services using space borne earth observation. The programme has a very wide scope and can co-fund anything from building satellites to on ground data platforms and everything in between. 

If you have an existing activity in mind e.g. a constellation, a satellite, an instrument, a technology, software, a service or an application related to the earth observation sector and you want to develop it with ESA's help and then roll it out commercially then InCubed could be the programme for you.

A product is defined as any hardware, software, techniques, technology, system (or subsystem) or service that will be ready for commercialisation

What are InCubed domains? 

 Activities within InCubed fall in the following categories:

1. Space Segment: activities related to any earth observation related product to be used in the spacecraft (platform, payload) 
2. Ground Segment: activities related to the ground segment of an earth observation satellite system (ground stations and mission management, ground networks and data distributions)
3. Data Segment: activities related to the processing and the use of the earth observation data (Data Processing/ Visualization, Data Analytics/ Insights /Applications) 

Or any combination of the above to deliver an end-to-end system.  

What are InCubed cycles?

lnCubed is driven by submitted industrial proposals which must demonstrate that the product or service to be developed is commercially viable by the end of the lnCubed activity (or at least include a very robust roadmap to commercialisation).

There are two development cycles available within InCubed and entry depends on the maturity of the of the development being proposed:

1. De-risking Cycle: This cycle results in a credible technical concept with identified commercial customers who show tangible interest and a robust product development roadmap. Developments are typically less mature and require support to reach a credible commercial product/service. 
2. Product Development Cycle: This cycle results in a credible product or service which can be shown to be commercially viable without any further public funding. Developments are typically more mature

It is possible to move from one cycle to another as the development matures or if the development is mature enough it can enter the product development cycle directly.

You may apply for product development cycle alone or in combination with a de-risking cycle. Please note that applications focusing solely on de-risking will not be accepted for this campaign. Each cycle may have different levels of co-funding, depending on the supporting member state or target  readiness level (e.g. TRL/ASRL, refer to this table for their definition). You can  apply for both cycles potentially and activities can overlap as long as they are clearly shown. National delegations may, however, only decide to support one cycle at a time.

The required objectives per development cycles and segments shall be respected.

The aim is to reach a minimal viable product by the end of the Product development cycle.

InCubed can also support further roll out if it is foreseen. Additional funding/financing outside of the InCubed programme may also be sought to scale the concept internationally or roll out additional elements e.g. constellations, networks, architectures (as far as it does not include further public funding)  

What are the co-funding options and conditions?

ESA usually co-fund a fraction of the total allowable costs (up to 50% for the Product development cycle, up to 75% for the De-risking cycle); SMEs may be entitled to higher funding (up to 80%) depending on national delegation(s) decision.

For complete information relate to the Standard Call For Proposals (CFP) published on esa-star publication under Tender Action Number: 4-40010 . To access registration on esa-star is required. The documents on esa-star take precedence in case of any discrepancies. The consultation of the official documentation on esa-star related to the Call For Proposals (CFP) is only possible for duly registered users.