FUSE – The European Space Futures Laboratory

From research on European space futures to a new platform for shaping them.

FUSE is a new spin-off initiative of the FutureSpace project. Supported by an FFG Proof of Concept Grant and a Seal of Excellence by the European Research Council we are currently developing and testing the foundations for a European Space Futures Laboratory. Building on several years of research into European space policy, strategic foresight, and the politics of future-making, FUSE aims to translate our academic expertise into an applied foresight service offer for the European space ecosystem.

What we envision

Europe’s space sector is facing increasingly complex strategic questions: technological disruption, shifting geopolitical conditions, changing roles between the public and private,  questions of strategic autonomy and European cohesion: decisions whose consequences will extend over decades.

FUSE will create a dedicated space for systematically exploring these futures.

We envision a platform that brings together actors from space agencies, industry, policy, governments, academia and research, and civil society to identify emerging challenges, question established assumptions, develop alternative futures, and translate them into strategic options for the present.

Our work will combine established and experimental foresight methods, including:

  • Strategic foresight and scenario development;
  • Critical futures methods;
  • Strategic simulation and wargaming;
  • Delphi processes and expert consultation;
  • Backcasting and strategic roadmapping;
  • Speculative workshops, design thinking and future-oriented policy laboratories;
  • Tailored foresight formats for organisations and collaborative projects.

At the centre of FUSE is the idea that the European space sector needs to do more than strategise for a single anticipated future. We want to support organisations and institutions in preparing for various futures, making visible the underlying assumptions that shape a particular path dependency, and broadening the range of strategic choices available today.

From FutureSpace to FUSE

FUSE grows directly out of the research conducted within FutureSpace – Negotiating Relations between European Integration and Europe’s Future in Outer Space.

Throughout FutureSpace, we have worked with actors across the European space sector and experimented with foresight as both a research methodology and a practical mode of engagement. The strong interest in these activities has encouraged us to explore how this expertise can be made available beyond the academic project.

The FFG-funded Proof of Concept phase now allows us to take this next step: developing, testing, and refining a service model that combines the analytical depth of academic research with the practical needs of organisations making decisions about Europe’s future in space.

What comes next

Over the coming months, we will share more about our services, methods, collaborations and pilot projects.

More soon.

The European Space Futures Laboratory