Catalonia navigates the space technologies boom
Sàmper makes the country's aerospace industry a flag to propose Barcelona as the venue for the sector's main congress in 2029
BarcelonaThe Catalan aerospace industry has consolidated among "the most dynamic in southern Europe". This is confirmed by a report prepared by Acció, the agency for business growth of the Generalitat, which raises the sector's turnover in 2024 – the last year with available data – to 237 million euros. According to the study, presented this Wednesday at La Llotja de Mar, the number of space companies in the Principality has tripled since 2019, to 83. In total, the Catalan space industry employed around 1,822 people at the end of 2024. The strength of this technological segment underpins Barcelona's bid to host the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in 2029, the world's most important fair for orbital activities.
The pace of expansion of the Catalan space economy, as explained by the Department of Business and Labor, has accelerated in recent times. Sebastià Elías, an Acció consultant, assures that companies in the sector indicate that both in 2025 and 2026, business will grow even more than in previous years. Without yet providing a calculation, Elías estimates that the nature of the Catalan ecosystem, with nearly 29% of start-ups in full growth phase, will lead to "much more exponential" increases in turnover than in other countries, where the ecosystem is more established around sector corporations.
The department's report points out that the new capabilities of the Catalan space economy are part of a great moment for the sector globally. Worldwide, according to data collected by Acció, the space industry is expected to generate more than 551 billion dollars in 2026, with an average annual growth of 7.9% per year, to exceed 746 billion in 2030. American companies like Boeing or RTX dominate, but European multinationals like Airbus or Safran are also among the largest in the world. Despite not having these giants, Elías expects the annual business growth in the Principality to be "equal to or higher" than the global average. According to the secretary of Digital Policies of the department, Maria Galindo, "the entire sector is emerging greatly". "Companies are hiring more, investing more, more money is being injected into it," enumerates Galindo; an escalation that is particularly noticeable in Catalonia.
The good performance of aerospace companies has also spurred capital: in 2025 alone, aerospace startups raised over $6.8 billion in venture capital. In this field, Barcelona has emerged as one of the European protagonists: the capital of the Principality is the fourth city in the EU, according to the Acció report, in private funding rounds in start-ups special in the period 2021-2025. In the four years studied, Barcelona's fabric has attracted 113 million dollars in 13 growing trend rounds.
The figure will be even higher in the short term, on the shoulders of the C-series of 100 million that the Catalan company Sateliot opened last April. Among the most notable emerging companies in the industry are also Pangea Propulsion, specialized in spacecraft propulsion, or Fregata Space, dedicated to Earth observation to analyze pollution.
IAC 2029: "We're going out to win"
Regarding this industrial wealth, Catalonia presents itself as one of the favorites to host the IAC in 2029. The bid, which has the support of the Spanish government through the Spanish Space Agency, will compete with proposals from Houston and Geneva. The organization, in the hands of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), will decide the winner during this year's edition, which will be held in October in the Turkish city of Antalya.
Addressing the sector, at an event held at the Llotja de Mar, the Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat, Miquel Sàmper, assured that Catalonia "is going out to win" with its proposal for 2029. According to Sàmper, the event is strategic for "supporting the industry" at a key moment for its global competitiveness. At the same event, the director of Programs and Industry of the Spanish Space Agency (AEE), Cecilia Hernández, highlighted the importance of landing the IAC within the European Union's borders. "We would bring the entire global space community to Europe. It is a fundamental opportunity for the country, but also for the continent," she stated.