Originally published on teaduspark.ee
On October 27–29, Fotografiska in Tallinn hosted the Software Defined Space Conference (SDSC), organized by Enterprise Estonia (EIS) and focused on software development and cybersecurity in space technology. The sixth edition brought together representatives from industry, science, and policy and set a new attendance record with 243 participants and 42 speakers. Sven Lilla, representing Sparkup and ESA BIC Estonia, moderated two panels during the conference, the first in Tartu and the second in Tallinn.
International press trip kicks off in Tartu
Ahead of the conference, EIS organized a press trip for international journalists to introduce the Estonian space sector. The trip opened on October 26 at Sparkup Tartu Science Park. Our Head of Space, Sven Lilla, moderated the panel “Estonia’s Space Ecosystem,” which covered the strengths of the Estonian space sector, the results of ESA BIC Estonia so far, and why two-thirds of Estonia’s deep tech companies are born in Tartu. The day ended with a networking evening where the journalists could meet companies from the field and hear their stories firsthand.
Space and Defense panel at Fotografiska
On October 28, the conference continued at Fotografiska in Tallinn, where Sven Lilla moderated the panel “Space and Defense.” The panelists were Juan José Grosso, Mari Allik, Joe Cotti and Lukáš Láni.
The discussion explored how industry can shape defense policy from the bottom up, and whether the European champion emerging from the merger of the Airbus, Thales and Leonardo space divisions will leave room for small Baltic companies. The panel also discussed whether artificial intelligence can find vulnerabilities in space software faster than humans. The panelists pointed out that cyberattacks mainly target ground infrastructure rather than satellites, and discussed what to consider in the Baltic Sea region, where GNSS jamming is an everyday reality.
