Who is eligible for ESA Boost!?

European economic operators developing commercial launch, in-orbit transportation or return-from-space services, based in one of ESA's Participating States for the relevant Boost! element. Applicants are expected to be at an advanced development stage or already scaling toward market, with a close-to-complete commercial offering and the ability to bring private co-funding.

Does ESA Boost! take equity or IP?

No. Boost! is contract-based co-funding, not an investment: the company keeps full commercial and technical control of the project and owns the resulting intellectual property. In return, ESA requires private co-funding — ESA states that every euro it invests in commercial space businesses often leverages more than five euros from private investors.

What is ESA Boost!?

ESA Boost! is ESA's programme for co-funding privately-led companies that build commercial launch, in-orbit transportation and return-from-space services — formally the Commercial Space Transportation Services and Support Programme. It runs as a permanently open call rather than a fixed annual deadline, offers equity-free co-funding plus access to ESA facilities and expertise, and requires the applicant to bring matching private investment.

The three elements

Boost! is split into three elements that behave quite differently:

Boost! 1 – Commercial Space Transportation Services. The element most startups mean by "Boost!": a permanently open call where European economic operators submit proposals directly for co-funding of launch, in-orbit transport/servicing or return-from-space services.
Boost! 2 – Support to Participating States. Funds national spaceport infrastructure and related services; proposals are submitted by ESA Member States themselves, not by companies.
Boost! 3 – Space Transportation Services Procurement. ESA's "flight ticket initiative" with the European Commission, which co-funds commercial launches carrying In-Orbit Demonstration/Validation (IOD/IOV) satellites, selected through a separate Call for Satellites.

Who it's for and how to apply

Element 1 — the one open directly to companies — currently lists Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK as Participating States; confirm your country against the live call before assuming it qualifies. Applicants submit an Outline Service Proposal (around 30 pages) through ESA's OSIP portal; a positive evaluation leads to a Full Service Proposal (75–150 pages) via esa-star, which needs a Notification of Support from your national delegation before going through formal tender evaluation. Eligible costs cover design, development, technology maturation, system qualification, software, production facilities and proof-of-concept hardware; civil works and general-purpose infrastructure are excluded.

Why it matters for funding

Boost! assumes you already have a close-to-complete, commercially viable service — ESA is explicit that it should not rely on guaranteed institutional demand once operational. That makes it a poor fit for a team still validating a concept (look at ESA Kick-Start or an incubation route first) and a strong fit for a launch, in-orbit servicing or re-entry company that needs de-risking capital to reach qualification without touching the cap table. Because ESA requires private co-funding as an entry condition, a Boost! award also works as a credibility signal to investors — ESA's own figure is that every euro it commits typically pulls in more than five euros of private capital alongside it.

Official source: ESA – Boost! and ESA Boost! frequently asked questions.

Written by Tymofiy Badikov, founder of VIRA.space (Virtual Innovation Research Assistant) — operated by Space Tech Gateway Sp. z o.o., Kraków Technology Park. VIRA tracks live European space funding calls and checks your eligibility free: see live tenders.