New Investment Fund Backs Space Technologies Finding Uses on Earth

PARIS, March 9, 2010 - For years, ESA has been bringing space technologies down to Earth through
its Technology Transfer Programme and Business Incubation initiatives. Now,
the Agency will strengthen these initiatives by supporting new businesses
using space innovations through a dedicated venture capital fund.

The Open Sky Technologies Fund (OSTF) is an early-stage venture capital
fund aimed at nurturing the most promising business opportunities arising
from space technologies and satellite applications for terrestrial
industries. The OSTF will be managed by Triangle Venture Capital Group on
ESA's behalf.

Michel Courtois, ESA Director of Technical and Quality Management,
formally signed an agreement with Bernd Geiger, Managing General Partner and
founder of Triangle, at ESA Headquarters on 4 March.

The fund has attained an initial 'first closing' value of EUR15 million,
with the target of raising up to EUR100 million by June 2011. It will source
investment opportunities across all 18 ESA Member States identified through
ESA's Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO) and its partners.

"The OSTF is ESA's first step into the venture capital world but
represents a logical next step from our existing technology transfer
activities," said Director Courtois. "The TTPO has built up an extensive
technology transfer network in cooperation with the European Space Incubation
Network ESINET that is part of the European Business Incubator Network (EBN).
ESA has set up a quartet of ESA Business Incubation Centres which have helped
to create more than 70 companies so far.

"But for these incubated companies to continue to grow they need access
to investment capital. With the OSTF, ESA is supporting young and
entrepreneurial companies which are putting innovative ideas from space
technology, services and applications to terrestrial uses. This will help to
increase the benefits coming back from space to European citizens."

This first European venture capital fund dedicated to the space community
will be run for ESA by Triangle, a recognised player in Europe's venture
capital community. Triangle has been working exclusively with spin-offs from
universities and research centres for the past 13 years.

Triangle has become a leading early-stage technology investor, with four
funds managed to date. The company has a long-standing affinity with the
sector and related expertise, including investor status in a prominent ESA
spin-off company iOpener Media, which uses satnav-derived location-based
service technology to facilitate realtime integration of real-world objects
such as Formula 1 racing cars into virtual gaming environments. iOpener is
part of the ESTEC Business Incubation Centre (BIC) in Noordwijk, the
Netherlands.

About ESA's Technology Transfer Programme Office

Established in 1990, ESA's TTPO has transferred more than 200 space
technologies to non-space sectors, bringing tangible benefits to European
citizens and strengthening Europe's industrial competitiveness. It has also
set up four ESA BICs in Noordwijk in the Netherlands; Darmstadt and
Oberpfaffenhofen in Germany and Rome in Italy.

Further information:

www.esa.int/ttp

www.esa.int/bic

Jennifer Knoblach, ttp at esa.int, Tel: +31(0)71-565-6208