What is the main mission of the Office of Space and Society within the structure of the Spanish Space Agency?

The primary mission of the Office is to bring space closer to all citizens. We aim for the public to understand the multidimensional relevance of space, recognizing its value as an essential infrastructure for daily life, the economy, and Spain’s future.

Alongside this awareness-raising work, we place strong emphasis on fostering scientific and technological vocations, ensuring the talent pipeline needed for the sector.

Ultimately, the mission of this Office is to lay the foundations that encourage public interest in and understanding of space in all its dimensions.

This work is complemented by institutional communication actions carried out by the Technical Cabinet, ensuring that the Spanish Space Agency is understood as a strategic project whose ultimate goal is to improve citizens’ lives through space.

From your perspective, what role do outreach and social participation play in the development of national space policy?

They play an absolutely fundamental role. Today, a space policy cannot be complete without solid social backing and can only move forward if citizens understand its importance and feel it as their own.

Outreach is essential because it transforms space investment into legitimate social and economic value. It helps explain that space is not a luxury, but a key infrastructure for citizens, supporting security, navigation, climate monitoring, and emergency response, while also advancing scientific knowledge and our understanding of our origins.

Active social participation ensures the relevance of the strategy by anchoring it in terrestrial needs. By involving students, companies, scientists, and public administrations, space becomes a driver of cohesion, innovation, and the future, giving citizens intellectual and emotional ownership of the program.

The path toward modern progress requires citizens to champion the cause of space, understanding its importance as an indispensable foundation.

How is collaboration articulated between the Spanish Space Agency and territorial initiatives such as Sevilla Capital Espacial Española?

At the Agency, we are convinced that space ambition must be built on strong local foundations. That is why collaboration with initiatives like this one is a strategic pillar for promoting a collective sense of belonging to the national space project, as scientific culture is built from the territory.

This collaboration is articulated at multiple levels and is based on three main pillars to deploy the national strategy with roots and strength:

Civic Foundations: Raising awareness and passion among citizens through active outreach.

Educational Base: Through educational programs and challenges for young talent.

Productive Fabric: Promoting direct connections with the local business ecosystem and technology centers.

In this way, the strategy is deployed with roots and strength, ensuring that each territory’s commitment contributes organically to the major objectives of the Spanish project.

How do you assess the joint work between the Spanish Space Agency and the Seville City Council within this initiative?

The assessment is extraordinarily positive and fruitful. Seville is demonstrating a serious, sustained, and strategic commitment to the space sector, which translates into a constant and highly effective collaborative environment with the Agency.

The City Council launched this initiative with a clear long-term vision, and we have found—and mobilized—an exceptionally active local ecosystem that includes universities, technology centers, companies, and citizens themselves. This collective energy makes the joint work highly impactful.

What activities are planned for the coming year?

Over the coming year, we will roll out a set of strategic and cross-cutting actions aimed at diverse audiences, with a focus on consolidating the human factor and the project’s innovative base. Together with the City Council and local entities, the roadmap includes:

Educational and inspirational activities for students.

Promotion of young talent through specific programs and challenges.

Outreach events open to the general public.

Participation in key events and conferences focused on innovation and sustainability.

The main goal is for Seville to remain a living and dynamic space where people can learn, discover, and actively connect with the world of space.

How does this collaboration help consolidate Seville as a hub for innovation, research, and space outreach?

This collaboration is key to consolidating Seville as a reference hub by strengthening its position on several interconnected levels.

First, it acts as a powerful mechanism for institutional integration. By hosting the Agency and maintaining an active agenda, the Spanish Space Agency formally integrates Seville into the national space strategy, showcasing its capabilities and potential on the national and international stage.

Second, it becomes a driver of economic and intellectual dynamism. This collaboration generates a constant flow of high-impact opportunities that attract projects, talent, and investment by encouraging direct participation from local talent.

Overall, it turns Seville into an unavoidable reference point where science, innovation, and outreach coexist and reinforce one another, ensuring a leadership position within the space ecosystem.

What role can Sevilla Capital Espacial Española play in Spain’s international projection in the space sector?

It plays a very relevant role. The presence of the Spanish Space Agency in Seville is the strategic engine that drives our international visibility, and the project stands as a tangible example of how national ambition takes root at the territorial level.

Through this synergy, Spain presents to the world the comprehensive mobilization of its territory—from citizens and talent to local industry—around a countrywide project. This turns Seville into a complete and compelling showcase that amplifies the city’s international projection. It is an ideal window to highlight Spain’s contribution to the sector and to attract collaborations, investment, and strengthen leadership in space.

What message would you like to convey to citizens about the value of space as a driver of innovation, sustainability, and social progress?

My most important message is one of closeness and significance: space is not something distant, but an essential infrastructure that is an inseparable part of our daily lives.

We must be aware that the progress and security we enjoy today—from weather forecasting, communications, and satellite navigation to essential tools for tackling global challenges such as climate change—are only possible thanks to space activity.

Beyond everyday applications, space is the ultimate engine of progress and inspiration. It is an inexhaustible source of innovation and opportunity, and above all, an invitation for new generations to pursue science and technology.

Space is already contributing to a more sustainable, safer, and more prosperous future, and we want all citizens to know that they are a fundamental part of this journey. This space project is, in essence, a national project.