On a sunny Wednesday, August 13, Space Day took place at Wasa Innovation Center as part of the annual Wasa Future Festival. The event was organized by ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) Finland, ESA Phi-Lab Finland, and LUMA Centre Ostrobothnia.
Inspiring curiosity through science
In the morning, science educators from the LUMA Centre Ostrobothnia presented what they do. LUMA Centre Ostrobothnia is part of the national LUMA network, bringing the joy of science education to children, young people, and teachers. Its home base is at Technobothnia, where workshops on natural sciences, mathematics, and technology are organized in the SAGA classroom for learners from preschool to upper secondary school.
For example, some of the current workshops focus on exploring how programming works, creating keychains with a 3D printer, doing chemistry experiments, and learning about financial management in a fun way.
LUMA Educator Saana Söderlund and Lecturer in Energy Technology Maarit Vesapuisto also introduced KitSats – real, single-unit satellites in the CubeSat format, designed for educational use.
Business and space – seeking new solutions
The afternoon program focused on Finland’s space economy and the current national space strategy. According to the strategy, Finland aims to become by 2030 “the world’s most advanced spacefaring environment, benefiting the whole of society”.
Project Manager Riccardo Notarangelo, who runs ESA BIC Finland’s West Coast Hub, opened the session with an overview of Finland’s space sector. Next, Project Manager Miika Kostamo from ESA Phi-Lab Finland and Project Manager Kaisa Ahonen from ESA BIC Finland, outlined the work of their respective organizations. They explained what kinds of ideas and projects ESA BIC and Phi-Lab can support and how the application process works.
➔ You can read more about ESA Phi-Lab Finland from the latest Mega magazine, and about ESA BIC Finland from the previous issue (pp. 2-3, articles available in Finnish and English).
The day concluded with a workshop where participants explored how businesses could engage in the space economy and what challenges could be addressed using space technology.
“The workshop went really well, even though there were only a few of us. Using the brainstorming method, we were able to get quite far in identifying problems, and we found several possible solutions that could be valid cases for receiving ESA BIC funding. Now the next step is to find people who want to develop those solutions and seize the opportunity to become entrepreneurs in the space economy!”
Riccardo Notarangelo, Project Manager for ESA BIC Finland, Vaasa site
Thank you for participating in Space Day 2025. 🌟
Interested?
- LUMA Centre Ostrobothnia (workshops for children and youth)
- ESA BIC Finland (for startups and companies leveraging space technology)
- ESA Phi-Lab Finland (for new space innovations)
