[We have Stéphanie BEHAR LAFENETRE reporting live from the venue.]

🟡 "Culot." ("Having some cheek," in French) That was the word on every screen at BIG 2026 — Bpifrance's grand rassemblement des entrepreneurs, packed into the Accor Arena in Paris yesterday.

So here's ours, from an on-orbit servicing point of view: the real nerve isn't dreaming up the technology – it's recognising that Europe already has it. Rendezvous and robotics are mature here. The bold move is to back ourselves and lead, rather than wait to buy those services from the US or Japan. European autonomy. European sovereignty. Non-dependence. That was the thread running through my day.

On the Écho 3 stage, "Services en orbite: vers la prochaine génération de l'économie spatiale," I shared a genuinely stimulating round table – moderated by Benoit Rivollet (In Extenso Innovation Croissance) – with:

🛰️ Jean-Luc Maria, CEO of Exotrail
🛰️ Nicolas Gaume, Co-founder & CEO of Space Cargo Unlimited
🛰️ Camille Caballé, CFO of HyPrSpace

The debate was exactly the one worth having: how mature are the technologies really, where are the markets, and how far can European sovereignty carry this new economy?

A few things stayed with me:

• Nicolas Gaume flagged how fragile cheap access to space still is – if low-cost launch tightens, his launch bill could jump several-fold, and European microlaunchers suddenly become strategic, not optional. He's also genuinely excited about in-orbit assembly – building a "factory in orbit" piece by piece. Exactly the kind of operation on-orbit servicing exists to enable.

• Camille Caballé is building that sovereign launch capability from the French side with HyPrSpace.

• And across the table, one challenge kept coming back – the one that quietly decides whether any of this scales: the standardisation of interfaces. Satellites, servicers and tugs need to speak the same language in orbit. It's unglamorous, and it's everything.

Earlier in the day, at "Les Visages d'Horizon Europe," Jean-David Malo (European Commission, DG Research & Innovation) walked through how Europe funds innovation — from low-level research all the way to deployment and the financing of those final, hardest steps. It was a fitting place to say it out loud: EROSS SC is (proudly) part of that programme. This is Horizon Europe at work.

One arena, 60,000 entrepreneurs, and a clear takeaway: Europe doesn't need permission to lead in orbit. It needs a bit of culot. 🇪🇺🛰️

Thanks to Bpifrance for the stage, and to everyone who came to talk servicing.

#EROSSSC #BIG2026 #Bpifrance #OnOrbitServicing #HorizonEurope #SpaceEconomy #EuropeanSovereignty #EuropeanSpace #ThalesAleniaSpace #EUSpace