In March 2026, EvoEnergy joined leaders from across aerospace, advanced manufacturing, telecommunications, and technology at Space-Comm Expo Europe, the UK’s largest commercial space industry event. Held at ExCeL London, the conference brought together more than 5,000 industry professionals, 200+ speakers, and 250 exhibitors to explore how Europe can accelerate growth across the rapidly expanding space economy.
Among the speakers was Liam Deegan, Graduate Software Developer at EvoEnergy, who participated in the panel session “Ask the Engineer: From Megastructures to Nanotech.” The session explored how engineering expertise from industries such as energy, transport, and manufacturing is already contributing to the development and application of space technologies.
Rather than focusing purely on satellites and launch systems, the panel highlighted an important reality: much of the value created by the space sector actually happens downstream, where satellite data is applied to real-world industries such as renewable energy, infrastructure, mobility, and communications.
A Cross-Industry Engineering Panel
The panel brought together experts from a wide range of sectors, demonstrating how engineering disciplines outside the traditional space industry are increasingly shaping the future of the space economy.
Participants included:
- Dr Nafeesa Dajda, Chief of Missions, Satellite Applications Catapult
- Henry Ashton, A350 UK Chief Engineer, Airbus UK
- Thomas Dell, Head of Technology – Space Cloud Services, D-Orbit
- Ben Evans, New Business Director, AtkinsRéalis
- Rahul Sharma, Board Member, Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) UK
- Liam Deegan, Graduate Software Developer, EvoEnergy
The discussion explored how technologies such as satellite observation, GNSS positioning, secure cloud infrastructure, and high-resolution geospatial data are already embedded in industries ranging from aerospace to renewable energy.
For engineers working in sectors like solar energy, the connection to space technology may not always be obvious. However, satellite data plays an increasingly important role in asset modelling, performance monitoring, and predictive maintenance across renewable energy infrastructure.
How the Solar Industry Uses Space-Derived Data?
One of the key contributions from EvoEnergy during the session was providing practical insight into how satellite data is actually used within the solar industry.
Unlike many research-focused discussions about Earth observation, solar engineering requires highly specific and operationally usable data. Renewable energy systems depend on accurate environmental modelling to predict performance, monitor generation, and manage assets across large portfolios.
During the panel, EvoEnergy highlighted several important requirements:
-
Data format matters. Engineers need data delivered in formats that integrate directly with production systems and modelling software.
-
Resolution and frequency are critical. Solar modelling requires datasets that capture real-world irradiance conditions with sufficient temporal and spatial accuracy.
-
Operational usability is essential. Data must support engineering decisions, not just academic analysis.
A particularly important example is solar irradiance modelling. Satellite-derived irradiance data is widely used to estimate solar resource availability across large geographic areas. However, translating satellite imagery into the tilted irradiance values experienced by actual solar panels requires complex atmospheric modelling and post-processing.
As a result, many solar projects still rely on on-site weather stations for precise operational monitoring. However, satellite datasets are becoming increasingly valuable for large-scale modelling and system performance analysis, particularly when weather stations are unavailable or too distant from a site.
What EvoEnergy Learned from the Space Industry?
While EvoEnergy shared insights from the renewable energy sector, the panel also offered valuable lessons from companies and researchers working directly within the space ecosystem. One of the most striking insights was the complexity of the satellite data supply chain. Producing usable Earth observation data involves multiple layers, including:
- Satellite missions and sensing technologies
- Government agencies and international programmes
- Commercial data providers
- Post-processing and modelling specialists
- Software platforms delivering usable analytics
Understanding this pipeline provides greater clarity about how raw satellite data is transformed into the datasets used by industries such as agriculture, logistics, infrastructure management, and renewable energy.
Another key takeaway was the sheer volume and quality of space-derived data that already exists. Many datasets capable of improving modelling, monitoring, and forecasting in industries like solar energy are available today, yet remain underutilised due to outdated data infrastructure.
The Data Infrastructure Gap in Energy
One theme that resonated strongly during the discussion was the difference in data practices between sectors.
Compared to the advanced data pipelines used within the space industry, many parts of the energy and solar sectors still rely on outdated data delivery systems. In some cases, so-called “live” operational data is still distributed through CSV files transferred via FTP servers, rather than modern REST APIs or real-time data streaming.
This gap highlights a major opportunity for improvement. More advanced data pipelines could support:
- Pre-emptive maintenance through predictive analytics
- Improved performance monitoring across solar asset portfolios
- Better modelling of solar generation and system degradation
- More accurate forecasting of renewable energy output
As solar portfolios grow and systems become more distributed, modernising data infrastructure will become increasingly important for efficient asset management.
Turning Space Data Into Engineering Insight
A recurring theme throughout the session was the difference between raw data and usable engineering insight.
Satellite imagery and Earth observation datasets can contain enormous volumes of information. However, for engineers working on infrastructure such as solar arrays, wind farms, or telecommunications networks, the real value lies in actionable insights delivered at ground level.
For solar projects in particular, this often means understanding how atmospheric conditions translate into site-specific irradiance values on tilted panels, rather than simply analysing satellite images of cloud cover or atmospheric conditions.
- Achieving this requires sophisticated modelling that accounts for:
- Atmospheric attenuation
- Cloud cover dynamics
- Terrain and local environmental factors
- Panel orientation and tilt angles
The result is a dataset that engineers can actually use to inform operational decisions, performance diagnostics, and long-term asset modelling.
Why Cross-Sector Collaboration Matters?
Events like Space-Comm Expo Europe demonstrate how rapidly the boundaries between industries are evolving. The space sector is no longer confined to rocket launches and satellite manufacturing. Instead, it is becoming a foundational layer supporting sectors such as energy, transportation, telecommunications, defence, and infrastructure.
For companies like EvoEnergy, this creates opportunities to combine engineering expertise in renewable energy with the expanding capabilities of satellite data and geospatial analytics.
As Europe’s space economy continues to grow, collaboration between industries will play a key role in unlocking new technologies, improving infrastructure resilience, and accelerating the transition to cleaner energy systems.
The conversation at Space-Comm Expo Europe made one thing clear: space technology is already shaping the future of engineering on Earth, and the renewable energy sector has much to gain from closer integration with the rapidly advancing world of satellite data and Earth observation.