Renato Krpoun: "I think we're already in a space race, one way or another."

All photos courtesy of Space Exchange Switzerland © Phil Suarez

Between 23 and 27 May, Lausanne became the world's central stage for discussion on the mysteries and challenges of Space on Earth. The Swiss city, leaning against Lake Leman in the canton of Vaud, has established itself as a hub for space activities and is looking to turn these strengths into top-level dedicated business events, with the EPFL Space Centre as the epicentre of this ecosystem working on sustainable space logistics. At a critical juncture in the Space Age when we see launch costs decreasing and technological innovations at their all-time high, there are many new opportunities that will arise in the future for companies that want to invest in this cluster.

During a break from the Space Community Days ceremony and the official 50th Anniversary of the European Space Agency at the elegant and modern SwissTech Convention Center, our HQ manager Manuel Fernandes spoke to Dr. Renato Krpoun, head of the Swiss Space Office at the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Renato has worked in the space sector for over 20 years and was one of the creators of the first Swiss satellite project, the SwissCube. Below follows the conversation:
 

Headquarters: Renato, first of all explain to our readers the convergence between your positions in the Federal State of Switzerland and also in the European Space Agency (ESA).

Yes of course, I am the head of the Swiss Space Office at the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) within the federal administration, and I chair the ESA Council at delegate level. So I don't work for the ESA, but I have a role within the Council to represent or manage discussions between member states.

HQ: With a current global value of 360 billion dollars and estimates of a 2.7 trillion dollar industry by 2050, the future aerospace and transport sector offers great opportunities for Lausanne and Switzerland. How can space business events and scientific conferences contribute to these goals? What opportunities could this economic boost create for local industry, entrepreneurs and new start-ups?

If you think about space, or rather if you talk to someone in the street today, most people associate the space industry with exploration on Mars, astronauts on the Moon, sciences like astrophysics, James Webb and so on. I think we're at a critical moment as far as the industry is concerned, where we see launch costs coming down and activity transitioning from a primarily government-led sector to a more diverse and commercially driven landscape. So there are many new opportunities that will arise in the future. So maybe the industries that might be affected by space in the future aren't even aware of it yet. Normally, this type of conferences, but also a wider communication to the general public, also allows us to create awareness about how space is evolving and how the resulting possibilities are much more than just that initial description I gave you.

HQ: So, ESA recently published its 2040 strategy, and it was interesting to see that there are about five overarching goals here. Protect our planet and climate; exploration and discovery; strengthen European autonomy; boost growth and competitiveness; and inspire Europe. How is SERI addressing these goals for the future in Switzerland? What is it like to take this project and implement it in Switzerland?

Switzerland doesn't have its own space agency; we conduct our space activities through the ESA. What we do through events like this is first raise awareness in our community - what the multiple possibilities are within the agency, for example - and then consultation. Based on that, we can participate in different ESA programmes. There will be a ministerial conference at the end of 2025, in November, at which ESA member states will sign up to various programmes. This is how we participate and also encourage the implementation of the ESA 2040 strategy.

We have a Swiss space policy, but this policy is very broad. We haven't defined specific programmes within the space policy; we basically have three directions in which we want to work. One is more about infrastructure, which is important for Switzerland, such as access to Earth observation satellites, access to telecommunications, access to navigation, etc.; then we have a more competitive element, where we say that we want to be excellent and competitive in all areas; finally, we decide the scale on which we want to do this, whether at Swiss, European or global level. This fits in perfectly with ESA's strategy, which has much more expertise and know-how in how to implement these industrial valences and resources.
 

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HQ: So what is the real scope? Is it Switzerland under your borders?

Exactly. At the end, the policy does not define what we want to do in terms of programmes. This is where ESA strategy comes in and then the implementation follows.

HQ: Another big topic my magazine has been covering is how different sectors and industries can attract new talent. And that's something that takes time, because you have to educate a new generation, and make them feel that they're integrated and that they can build a career from there. We see that ESA is now promoting a junior professional programme. How can investment and development in the aerospace industry, along with innovation and technology, lead to a more cohesive social ecosystem here in the country?

Building a country where young people have opportunities and possibilities accessible to all is a great way to shape a cohesive and future-proof society. That's what we try to do in Switzerland. Firstly, we have a dual education system. So we have a university system where around 20 to 25 per cent of people go to the gymnasium (a public middle school by the canton/state) where they prepare to go directly to university, but we also have a vocational education and training system, where you complete the second cycle and then learn on the job. You work in a company and then go to school twice a week.

The system has been structured in such a way that, after graduating from gymnasium or vocational training, you can eventually continue your studies at university; if you're in the professional field, there are always ways to continue your development as well. There's a kind of permeability in our education system. It's not that you choose one path and then you're stuck, but depending on what you want, there's a whole range of options that allow you to navigate your professional education. The system is open to everyone, which guarantees cohesion.

In the morning sessions for ESA's 50th anniversary, we also realized that there is a potential impact and spillover into sustainable development through space. How can Lausanne promote sustainability in space with a more ground-based, bottom-up perspective using all the technology and innovation being driven in these areas?

In the Lausanne region, there are various activities related to sustainability in space. We have the ClearSpace company, for example, which is trying to capture space junk and deorbited satellites that are no longer in operation. On a more national scale, we integrate through ESA programmes and there we participate in various Earth observation programmes, such as Copernicus, Future EO, climate change initiatives, etc. So there's a whole range of programmes on sustainability on Earth.

Then there's also the issue of sustainability in space, where we see several universities with advanced research, but also active industrial players. EPFL, for example, is very active in sustainable space. The EPFL Space Centre is working on sustainable space logistics with a specialisation in space. We have the University of Bern, which is carrying out a major research project and has an observatory working in this area. So there are several active players.
 

Today we live in a very unstable and highly charged political climate, where international agreements and diplomacy are giving way to fierce competition between the different global blocs in industries such as this. How important is it for Europe to be at the forefront and take the lead in the exploration and development of the space cluster? Do you think we could be entering a new space race and could falling behind cost us dear?

I think we're already in a space race, one way or another. As we can already see, China wants to return to the Moon for energy reasons, the United States is committed to exploring Mars. We are also seeing an increase in the rate of launches into space orbit. There are thousands of satellites being launched, so I think the race is on.

The question for Europe, as I said, is how to stay ahead of the curve, or at least how we can be part of it. I think here the fact that we have an intergovernmental organisation like the ESA, which brings together the capacities of the different member states, is a great advantage. Because otherwise, each state in Europe would be developing its own national space programme, trying to make bilateral, trilateral partnerships and so on.

With the ESA, we have a very good mechanism that allows us to break down fragmentation. To be honest, we have a lot of shared domains in Europe, so when we do a programme together with all the member states, it allows us to break down fragmentation and benefit as much as possible from the knowledge and capabilities of the different European countries.

Following on from this question, how do you see the economic framework for this happening? How can we find a balance between public funding and private investment?

The question of private investment is obviously an important part of the current discussion, given that a significant portion of space funding continues to come from the public sector. We have large industrial domains here, particularly telecommunications, where we see significant private investment. When it comes to navigation satellites, there is some confusion because the public pays for the infrastructure in space and the private sector develops the applications on the ground. I mean, everyone has a receiver for the GPS signal, Galileo GNSS signal and so forth. That's where the industry makes its money. I think we should now ask the following questions: what are the future opportunities? What are the future markets that could be served by space? This is where private funding can come in in the future.

I believe there are many opportunities in the field of exploration. Perhaps more research at first, but in the medium term it would be possible to imagine factories in space building certain assets that cannot be produced on Earth. If we want, for example, to visit the Moon consistently for various purposes, we will eventually have to refuel a spacecraft several times. So we're not that far away from a refuelling station in orbit, within space logistics. This will happen in the next few years. Even the idea of nuclear fusion, which is a different approach to generating nuclear energy, already has advanced research underway. On the other hand, there is the question of how to create propulsion systems that can travel further through space. These are advances that will occur naturally in the future. But we are still, I would say, at the beginning of this journey.

And looking ahead, how do you see Switzerland and with its rich legacy in innovation and future-focused ecosystems, contributing to the long-term vision of this space sector? What position do you really want to occupy at international level in the future?

Switzerland has a tremendous group of excellent scientists and very innovative companies. It's a country of innovators. We also have the spirit that not everything has to be paid for by the government. I therefore believe that there is a very interesting future here for entrepreneurs looking for new markets in space, and wanting to get involved in new projects. Not necessarily whole systems, such as entire launchers or complete space stations; what we have seen are much more niche players, people and companies with unique ideas, ready to be implemented in international co-operation. We saw today, for example, that the atomic clocks for the navigation and timing of the Galileo satellites come from Switzerland. Very unique capabilities. This is where we want to be at the end of the day, with very competitive and even strategic capabilities for the development of these mega-projects. That's our future!
 

Since I first arrived in Switzerland, I've noticed a more decentralised and balanced approach to industrial centres and even public services. The country has research hubs and innovation ecosystems (like the EPFL) spread across the various cantons, which indicates a different organisational structure in the way the economic system works. How does the government design this planning and synergies between regions and industrial networks to drive greater economic and scientific development?

From a governance perspective, the Swiss federal state was built on the foundation of accountability where decisions need to be made. So, there's the responsibility of the cities or communes, the cantons, and then there's the federal state. We try to maintain and share the right responsibility at all levels and involve every layer of society. This also applies to companies and universities, where the entire system is very focused on a bottom-up, self-initiative. Obviously, the Federal Government supports this kind of self-initiative at all levels. I believe this gives the people involved much more buy-in to Swiss social and economic projects. Ultimately, it’s their project. It's not someone in an office somewhere far away telling you what to do, but yourself. Thus, it's about giving people the opportunity to take the initiative. I think this has been one of the success criteria that explains why Switzerland is so innovative and why we have so many entrepreneurs and companies willing to take ownership of their projects.

In a way, someone who lives or works in a small town in the Alps doesn't feel disconnected from others in their own endeavors or projects. They might move to a big city, but that doesn't mean there's an impediment or an obstacle...

Exactly, you can be in a small town, have a great idea, and stay there. I think that's one of the strengths. In Switzerland, you don't necessarily need to be in Zurich or Geneva to succeed with your companies. Take Maxon Motors, for example, which manufactures almost all the electrical drives that went to Mars — they're based in Obwalden, one of the smallest cantons in the country. What helps is that Switzerland has a very good infrastructure in terms of transportation, trains, education, etc. On the other hand, you don't need to be in Zurich to get a good workforce. You can be in Obwalden or Glarus and find the right people. Even in the most remote part of Switzerland, you can always find talented people interested in working for you.

Through education and vocational training, the industry is developing the necessary talent where it's needed and helping regions retain their demographic composition. Getting back to the Maxon Motors story, where they are developing part of their workforce in Obwalden — as a seed for an ecosystem that has been created — they don't necessarily need to recruit elsewhere, telling a story that goes beyond economics. They are social bastions of the region. This is very interesting from a demographic perspective. Of course, it's not always easy; there are always challenges in hiring all the professionals. However, talent can be at various levels. You can hire someone who is very good on the shop floor; another who might have technical or scientific talent; you can even hire niche talent that complements supply chains. I believe this is where Switzerland truly excels. We have a good mix of blue-collar, white-collar, and academia, which then forms a truly performing mix. A powerhouse for it!

Note: This interview was produced in collaboration with the Space Cities Network as part of HQ’s editorial partnership.

Don't miss our special report on Space Community Days on HQ #120 Summer Issue
 

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