Cross-border institutional cooperation to develop an innovation ecosystem in the space industry

The SpaceConnect ATHU project aims to strengthen institutional cooperation in space innovation in the Austrian-Hungarian border region. To this end, it establishes a structured cooperation framework among public bodies, research and educational institutions, innovation intermediary organisations and industry stakeholders. This framework promotes cross-border coordination, knowledge exchange and institutional capacity building.

SpaceConnect ATHU uses space innovation as a strategic breakthrough to repurpose existing high-value-added capacities. The space industry is an integrative field of application for precision manufacturing, robotics, cleanroom technologies, AI-based manufacturing and prototype development. It offers the opportunity to move the region's industrial and knowledge base on both sides of the border toward a diversified, knowledge-intensive direction and to reduce one-sided industrial dependencies.

A jointly operated Austrian-Hungarian governance structure in the form of a Space Innovation Council will create the following:

• a shared strategic and operational framework for cooperation in the space sector,
• structured formats for knowledge exchange and capacity building,
• a validated cross-border cooperation model for the shared use of existing laboratory and cleanroom capacities.

Finally, pilot-based collaborations will put the mechanisms developed into practice.