COIMBRA SPACE
SUMMER SCHOOL
Living and Working in Space:
From Imagination to Infrastructure
3rd, 4th and 5th of September 2025
📍 Instituto Pedro Nunes, Coimbra
- What will it take to live and work in space for real — not just for minutes, but for months or years?
- How do architecture, psychology, biology and physics shape the design of future space habitats?
- How can we move people and materials between Earth, orbit, and the Moon sustainably and efficiently?
- What business opportunities emerge as space tourism shifts from fantasy to frontier?
- Could orbiting junkyards become the raw material depots of a growing space economy?
- What can the constraints of living in space teach us about innovation on Earth?
- How can Portugal — and you — play a role in the next phase of space development?
🚀 Come explore the future of life beyond Earth — and the science, design, and entrepreneurship that will make it possible.
What is Coimbra Space Summer School?
Coimbra Space Summer School is a summer school dedicated to attracting students, researchers, and entrepreneurs to explore the space economy.
This edition takes place over 3 days, between the 3rd and 5th of September 2025, in person, with a diversified program of activities, which combines the sharing of knowledge, contact with people, entities, and companies linked to the space; challenges to generate business ideas; experiences, gifts, and prizes! This is the first international edition, so get your english ready!
All this in a stimulating environment with a good mood.
That’s 3 days full of space!
Who are we looking for?
Higher Education students, researchers from entities of the National Scientific and Technological System (SCTN) and entrepreneurs, interested in exploring the potential of space to create business.
We want people with motivation and curiosity to know and propose ideas on how Space can improve our daily lives, creating innovative services or products that incorporate space assets!
What are the benefits of participating?
- Learn more about space technologies and their applications
- Networking with the space community in Portugal
- Receive mentoring from experts in the field of space, innovation, entrepreneurship and business development
- Develop entrepreneurship skills, teamwork, communication and problem solving
- Get a certificate of participation
- Win gifts and prizes
What activities are included?
- Thematic talks
- Challenges and contests for creating businesses that use space assets
- Mentoring
- Pitch
- Networking with key people and institutions in the space sector Involvement with the network of incubators that, at a national level, collaborate in the ESA BIC Portugal incubation program
How to participate?
Enrollment is individual and must be done within the deadline set in the calendar – between June 16th and August 31st, 2025, using the form accessible here.
The organization of the event is conditioned to a maximum of 45 participants.
If the minimum number of 16 registrations is not verified, the organization reserves the right to cancel the event. The cost of registration is 10€ per participant with payment made by bank transfer, to the IBAN of Instituto Pedro Nunes:
IBAN PT50 0035 0239 00003663230 55
BIC SWIFT CGDIPTPL
Proof of payment must be attached to the registration form, in document, PDF, or image format. The respective receipt will be issued and delivered for all payments received, for tax purposes. If you make the payment but do not show up, there will be no refunds. Only entries made on time, with payment made and receipt sent, will be considered valid.
What are the conditions of participation?
• Being a university higher education student or
• Be a researcher at an SCTN institution or
• Be an entrepreneur
• Be over 18 years old Enroll by deadline
Applications are sorted in order of receipt. All people who meet the participation conditions up to the maximum number of participants will have their registration confirmed, via email sent by the organization, until September 1, 2025.
What are space assets?
The ESA – European Space Agency divides space assets into the following areas:
· Earth Observation
· Human and Robotic Exploration
· Space Transport
· Navigation
· Space Science
· Space Engineering and Technology
· Operations
· Telecommunications and Integrated Applications
· Preparing for the Future
To find out more, you can visit: ESA – Our Activities
You can also find out more about the Portuguese Space Agency and its work: Portugal Space
Space assets are:
• equipment that is or can be placed in space (for example, a satellite or a launcher).
• ground equipment that directly supports activity in space (for example, a ground station), including all technologies, architectures, software, techniques, tools, systems, hardware, models, components, and materials, among others, developed to integrate such equipment.
Space assets are also:
• data and images from Earth Observation satellites – Earth Observation, the satellites that provide positioning and time information, and
• navigation and communication satellites.
You can find out more, you can visit:
· COPERNICUS – European Earth Observation Program
· GALILEO – Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
· EGNOS – European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service
Programme
Day 1 (3 Sep)
09:30 Check-in at the venue – Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory
10:00 Welcome by IPN+OGAUC+GeoPlaNet
10:15 Event Agenda Presentation
10:30 Teaming
11:00 Keynote by Juan Nolasco “Live from ESA”
11:30 Challenges, Space Technologies & Competition
12:00 Team Work
13:00 Lunch Break
14:00 Keynote by Hugo Costa: “Challenges of medicine in zero gravity”
14:30 Team Work & Mentoring
15:30 Keynote by Franscesco Salese: “How space architecture will transform future planetary missions”
16:00 Team Work & Mentoring
17:30 Talk by Carla Duarte (IPN): “Value Proposition”
18:00 Team Work & Mentoring
18:15 Keynote by Nuno Peixinho and Ricardo Gafeira
19:00 Astro-Barbecue
21:00 Astronomical Observation / Astro Q&A
22:00 Go home (it’s late…)
Day 2 (4 Sep)
09:45 Check-in at the venue – IPN
10:00 Welcoming Briefing
10:15 Warm-up Quiz and Prize
10:30 Talk by Pedro Pina: “Geological raw materials in the Solar System”
11:15 Coffee Break
11:30 Team Work & Mentoring
13:00 Lunch Break
14:00 Keynote by Ana Pires: “Infrastructure Engineering in Challenging Environments: the Role of Space Resources, Science and Geo-technologies”
15:30 Teamwork & mentoring
16:30 Learn How to pitch
17:30 Teamwork & mentoring
19:00 Mission Pizza 🍕
20:00 Go home, it’s late…
Day 3 (5 Sep)
09:30 Check-in at the venue – IPN
09:45 Welcoming Briefing
09:50 Pitch Session #1
11:50 Coffee Break
12:00 Pitch Session #2
13:00 Lunch! Ad astra!
14:00 Keynote by Miguel Claro
14:30 Award Ceremony
15:00 The End 😉