(EU) Funding Workshop, Campus Updates and Summer Networking at the First Network & Drinks at CometLab

On 25 June 2026, NL Space Campus hosted the final Network & Drinks before the summer break. This edition took place at CometLab for the first time and was combined with the final Dialogue for Space session of the season. The programme featured a Funding & Partnerships workshop, community updates from NL Space Campus, a startup pitch by Arqus Aerospace, networking, food and live jazz. 

Dialogue for Space: Funding & Partnerships  

The afternoon started with Dialogue for Space #7, the final workshop of the season. Founded by NL Space Summer School alumni, Dialogue for Space creates opportunities for students, young professionals and experienced professionals to exchange ideas and build connections across the European space sector. 

This edition focused on European funding, partnerships and how to turn an idea into a funded project. Speakers from TNO, the Netherlands Space Agency (NLSA), the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), MIND and the venture capital community shared practical advice on how to take an idea further. Topics included finding the right funding call, building a consortium, developing a strong proposal, protecting intellectual property and making use of networks that can help move a project forward. 

Participants also learned where to find support. RVO encouraged organisations to contact the National Contact Point for Horizon Europe early in the process for advice on funding opportunities, consortium building and proposal preparation. The session also highlighted practical tools such as CORDIS for finding existing European projects and identifying potential partners.  

David de Groot from MIND presented how the Ministry of Defence works with startups, knowledge institutes and industry through regional innovation networks and MINDbases across the Netherlands. He invited innovators to connect with the network and explore opportunities to collaborate on defence and dual-use technologies.  

The workshop concluded with a presentation by Arqus Aerospace, which shared its journey from hackathons and early-stage development towards European collaboration. One of the key messages throughout the afternoon was simple: start locally, build your network, test your ideas, and use partnerships as a stepping stone towards larger European projects.  

Dialogue for Space continues throughout the summer with Dialogue for Space #8: Sports in Space, organised during the NL Space Summer School, followed by Dialogue for Space #9: Space Skills Workshops during NL Space Week. 

Download slides from the workshop

NL Space Campus Updates at the First Network & Drinks at CometLab 

This edition was the first Network & Drinks hosted at CometLab. Since opening in 2025, CometLab has become a place where startups, researchers, students and companies come together to design, build and test new ideas. Earlier this year, several new facilities officially opened at NL Space Campus, including the makerspace at CometLab, a Compact Range Test Chamber for antenna testing and RF characterisation, and Thermal Vacuum Chambers for qualifying hardware under representative space conditions. Together, these facilities provide new opportunities for testing, development and collaboration within the Dutch and European space sector. 

During the update, NL Space Campus reflected on the journey of the past few years. Not everything followed the path that was originally expected, but along the way new collaborations, new initiatives and new opportunities emerged. 

Talking about those unexpected roads, some recent highlights include the launch of the CometLab community, the Curiosity Contest and Rocket Group Netherlands establishing activities at CometLab, bringing more engineers to the campus. 

The NL Space Summer School also reached full capacity this year without an active promotional campaign. The programme gives students and young professionals from across Europe the opportunity to visit companies, take part in workshops, work on real industry challenges and explore career opportunities in the Dutch space sector. 

New collaborations with ESA have also started through the Lunch Lectures and ESA Evenings. The Lunch Lecture series gives students the opportunity to hear directly from ESA engineers and researchers about current missions and technologies, with the first edition focusing on the YPSat-2 mission and how ESA Young Professionals are studying blood flow in microgravity. ESA Evenings create additional opportunities for the campus community to meet, exchange ideas and connect with experts from ESTEC. 

Solidflow and SoilSpect have also relocated to the Stellar building, where both companies now occupy the full building. Multiple PhiLab projects have started, the foundations for short-stay accommodation have been laid, and plans for a joint project with Space Expo are currently being developed. And much more is still to come. 

The update also focused on what NL Space Campus is working towards: a more active community, more students on campus, stronger collaborations with partners and ESA ESTEC, and more opportunities for entrepreneurs and researchers. Work also continues towards Basecamp. As the value of the space sector continues to grow, so does the role of space technology and space data in addressing societal challenges. The more space data is used, the more we can monitor, the more space technology can be applied on Earth, and the more sustainable the use of resources can become. 

Arqus Aerospace shares latest developments 

The programme of Network & Drinks also included a pitch by Arqus Aerospace, a startup developing autonomous directed-energy systems for protecting critical infrastructure on Earth and in space. The company’s technology originated from a concept for protecting satellites during close-proximity operations and is now being developed and validated through terrestrial counter-drone applications. 

Earlier this year, Arqus Aerospace won the Dutch EUDIS Defence Hackathon at Unmanned Valley with a compact laser-based system that disables drone cameras without physically destroying the drone. The team recently secured third place at the European EUDIS Defence Hackathon finals after competing against startups from across Europe. 

During Network & Drinks, the founders shared an update on the company’s progress since the competition, including the further development of their prototype and plans for the next stage of growth. Arqus Aerospace is currently expanding its team and is recruiting engineers and other specialists to support the company’s continued development. 

Summer Evening at CometLab 

As the sun stayed out well into the evening, participants enjoyed food, drinks and live jazz by Lara Deutz and her band on the CometLab terrace. The evening also offered the opportunity to visit CometLab, explore the prototype machines and continue conversations with professionals, students, alumni, speakers and partners. 

Coming Up After the Summer 

Network & Drinks returns on 17 September. Community members interested in giving a three-minute pitch at one of the upcoming editions are welcome to register their initiative. 

September marks the start of a new season of events at NL Space Campus. Industry Space Days takes place at ESA ESTEC on 16 and 17 September, followed by Connecting the Curious and the next edition of Network & Drinks on 17 September. Later that month, NL Space Week returns with events across the Netherlands, including Dialogue for Space #9: Space Skills Workshops. 

We’ll share more details about these events soon. In the meantime, subscribe to the NL Space Campus Community Updates to stay up to date with upcoming events, news and opportunities at NL Space Campus.