Please note that this Call for Proposal will be closed and will not accept any new submission after 31/03/2026 as follows:

• Part 1 Proposal (Outline) received by ESA by the 31/03/2026 will be reviewed and accepted under the current Call ;

• Any Part 1 Proposal (Outline) received by ESA after 31/03/2026 will not be accepted for evaluation under this Call. Any Pitch / Outline / Full Proposal submitted after the deadline under the current Call will not be evaluated.

A new InCubed Call for Proposal will be released shortly, to which interested Tenderers can submit new proposals.

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This 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.

All Ideas will be strictly confidential and not shared within ESA, 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.

First step: Pitch your Idea 

• Fill in the Idea Pitch form; ESA will check 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. These typically happen twice a month and will be used by ESA (and/or National Delegation/s) to see if it is a good fit for InCubed.
• A successful idea pitch, with agreement from the supporting national delegation(s) will be invited to fill in and submit Proposal Part 1 [Outline].

Second Step: Submit Proposal Part 1 [Outline] 

• Fill in the InCubed Proposal Part 1 [Outline] through this tool 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 either one or both cycles. 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.