Space microgravity: an opportunity for research and innovative businesses

11/02/2026 h 16:00 I3P, Sala Agorà - Corso Castelfidardo 30/A, Turin, Italy

Space microgravity: an opportunity for research and innovative businesses

The Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino (I3P), in collaboration with ESA BIC Turin, will host an event dedicated to the research and business opportunities offered by the access to microgravity environments, the innovative technologies developed by the innovative start-up Space Cargo Unlimited and its range of services available to other start-ups.

Space Cargo Unlimited (SCU), a European start-up based in Luxembourg and with a legal entity in Italy since 2022, is a pioneer of commercial microgravity research and production on an international level. Over the past decade, SCU has developed and flown three space missions, including two long-duration experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) and one sub-orbital research flight on Blue Origin's New Shepard. In September 2025, Space Cargo Unlimited raised €27.5 million with Europe’s largest Series A funding round for in-space manufacturing, led by Expansion Ventures and supported by Eurazeo with participation of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

SCU's flagship research program, Mission WISE, was the first commercially-driven, end-to-end, in-space manufacturing initiative focusing on agriculture and biotech: with it, SCU gained deep expertise in payload development, system integration, safety certification, launch logistics and post-flight retrieval. Building on this legacy, SCU has developed BentoBox, a scalable, automated microgravity research and manufacturing platform, and the company is in the process of having its own vehicle, as well as flying with different platforms in Europe and USA. 

With a team of former Airbus Defence & Space directors and engineers and national space agency project managers, SCU combines aerospace expertise with a commercially driven approach, positioning itself as a leader in high-frequency, affordable microgravity services to advance European space industrialization. The Italian entity is based in Turin, the national “capital of space”, and supported by the incubation program ESA BIC Turin, managed by I3P in collaboration with Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation. The company is already working with industry leaders such as Thales Alenia Space, for the joint development of the first floating space factory REV1, and is currently planning to grow its team and collaborations in the Piedmont region in the coming months.

How to participate

The event will be held, in English language, on Wednesday 11 February 2026, from 16:00 (4 p.m.) to 18:00 (6 p.m.), in attendance in I3P - which is located within the Campus of Politecnico di Torino and accessible from two different pedestrian entrances at Corso Castelfidardo 30 and Via Borsellino 53/N - in Turin, Italy.

Participation is free, after registration on Eventbrite.

Agenda

  • 16:00 | Reception of the registered audience
  • 16:10 | Welcome greetings and introduction - Leo Italiano, Senior Consultant of I3P and Program Manager of ESA BIC Turin
  • 16:15 | Keynote: “From Earth to Space and back: the benefit of Space and new markets opportunity for SMEs” - Nicolas Gaume, Co-Founder & CEO of Space Cargo Unlimited
  • 17:00 | The SCU roadmap on 2026-2027 missions and upcoming opportunities for research, start-ups and industry - Mathieu Goudot, Chief Revenue Officer of Space Cargo Unlimited
  • 17:45 | Q&A session with the audience
  • 18:00 | Conclusions

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