The 4th Space Forum meeting in Seville brings together Andalusia's aerospace ecosystem, with SilvIA Earth among the attendees

On 5 May, Seville City Council brought together at the Sevilla Emprendedora hub the companies and institutions that make up the Space Forum, the platform behind the "Seville, Spanish Space Capital" initiative.

On 5 May we were in Seville at the 4th meeting of the Space Forum, the annual gathering of the companies, universities, research centres and administrations that are part of the "Seville, Spanish Space Capital" initiative driven by the city council of the Andalusian capital. The meeting was held at the Sevilla Emprendedora hub, in the former Renfe warehouses on Calle José Galán Merino, and was opened by the delegate for the Economy, Álvaro Pimentel.

The Andalusian space ecosystem, up close

During the day we had the chance to learn about the new projects incubated this year by ESA BIC Andalucía, which is based in that same space. Seeing what other teams are building with space data and technology in the region, and what stage they are at, is a quick way to gauge where the Andalusian ecosystem stands and which companies it might make sense to build synergies with. Seville has an aerospace ecosystem that is not new, but that in recent years has grown in density and ambition: large anchor companies, an engineering school with a tradition in the sector, the Spanish Space Agency as a nearby player, and an ever-broader fabric of startups.

Andalusia, one of the regions most affected by fire

For SilvIA, which has part of its roots in Andalusia, taking part in this forum makes obvious sense. Andalusia is one of the regions with the most forest area in the country and one of the most exposed to fire every summer. It is a priority territory for us, though not the only one: the problem repeats across the whole Mediterranean basin and the technology we develop is equally applicable in any region facing it. At SilvIA we predict wildfire risk before ignition occurs, combining data from the Copernicus programme's Sentinel satellites with artificial-intelligence models. We anticipate where fires are most likely to happen, so that land managers can decide in advance where to focus surveillance, prevention and resources.

Taking space technology international in the United States

Among the talks, we highlight the session by Gonzalo García, an aerospace engineer and founder of Markentry USA, a consultancy specialising since 2014 in helping companies enter the US market. His talk on how to take space technologies international in the United States, with the strategic and financial requirements that market demands, was concrete and useful.

Thanks to Seville City Council and the Space Forum

We want to thank Seville City Council and its Economy department for organising the meeting, and the Space Forum and its coordinator, Professor Carlos Gómez Camacho, for the years of work that have made it possible for Seville to have this meeting point for the sector today. We will keep attending, learning and connecting. And if you work at an Andalusian administration, the next conversation does not have to wait for the next forum: show us your territory and we will show you SilvIA on it.