For the last 2 days I have been at the annual space policy conference in Brussels. As usual it has proven to be a very useful event to gather the thoughts of the political influencers and deciders but also to meet with so many friends in the space and Brussels communities. Several messages emerge for me which I wish to capture and share.

Firstly, some interesting details concerning H2020 and Copernicus where Philippe Brunet was very clear that projects can extend as far as in-orbit validation and demonstration of application capabilities. This should be very much welcomed and we need to develop more ideas on what that could mean for our sector.

On Copernicus, there were some commitments to ensuring that the data would be available to everyone on an equal basis no matter where they are in Europe. We have been asking for this on behalf of the industry but whilst there have been many good words, the funding to make this possible has not been available. We can only hope this may now change.

The dialogue between policy makers and industry will be developed further, initially in the context of H2020 to understand better industry needs. EARSC will be active in gathering and conveying the views and recommendations for the EO services industry.

In this respect, we need to raise the level of the debate which we engender. There are powerful trends influencing the sector at the moment and we must remain vigilant towards the development and positioning of the European industry. We have much to offer and many opportunities emerging but unless we adapt with the support of European policy makers in Brussels and in member states any competitive advantage risks to be lost. It should be an interesting period!

In our last industry survey in 2013, we found that around 65% of the European EO service companies were micro-enterprises ie employing less than 10 persons and that 95% were SME’s employing less than 50 persons. We found this a very interesting result and use it to argue that the sector is quite young and fragmented.

But looking recently at Europe-wide figures, maybe the sector is not so un-characteristic after all. Indeed the percentage of European micro enterprises and SME’s more generally are higher than we found in 2013. The latest SME report from the EC shows 99.8% companies in Europe are SME with less than 250 employees, whilst 92.4% are micro-enterprises compared to our 1% and 67% respectively (see table below).

We are just starting the new survey and we shall see what results this delivers. In 2013 we “found” a total of 319 companies in our sector. Already our database in 2015 contains around 50% more companies that we address with our survey and since we are more aware of the larger companies it is sure that a large proportion of the new additions are micro-sized. I expect we shall see results which are closer to the wider population of companies.

SME’s and especially the micro-enterprises are especially important in creating new jobs. At the launch of their report in 2012, the European Commission reported that 85% of net new jobs¹ in the EU between 2002 and 2010 were created by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This figure is considerably higher than the 67%-share of SMEs in total employment. During this period, net employment in the EU's business economy rose substantially, by an average of 1.1 million new jobs each year. These are the main results of a study on the essential contribution of SMEs on job creation.

But in 2013, the number of SME’s fell by nearly 1% with the strongest decline in the micro category. So net creation of new enterprises fell below the rate at which earlier ones were failing. I hope, expect that in the EO services sector this is not the case and the numbers are still rising quite strongly. We have launched our 2015 survey and we ask that all companies respond and if by chance you have not received a request to do so, please let us know at secretariat@earsc.org.

How often have we (the older generation of which I am definitely part – a baby boomer) been accused of spending our children’s heritage; of using all the resources and polluting the earth on which we live? It seems to be a quite regular refrain but let us put it into perspective. I came across this delicious piece the other day written by Dennis Gartman and circulated by John Mauldin.

“Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment. The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." The older lady said that she was right – her generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. The older lady went on to explain: “Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the ‘green thing’ back in our day. Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the ‘green thing’ back then. We walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But you’re right, we didn't have the ‘green thing’ in our day. Back then we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in the early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothe s from their brothers or sisters (and cousins), not always brand-new clothing. But you’re right, young lady; we didn't have the ‘green thing’ back in our day. Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a screen the size of a handkerchief [remember them?], not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working, so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.” But you’re right; we didn't have the ‘green thing’ back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the ‘green thing back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the ‘green thing.’ We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint. But, isn't it sad, how the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the ‘green thing’ back then?”

I have to say that I do recall many of these things myself. We also had the equivalent of the local recycling centre come round to us in the form of the rag and bone man with his horse drawn cart. I recall being sent out to collect the waste from the horse to fertilise the vegetables which my father grew; so recycling was complete!

I just wanted to share this with you.