E-USOC

What E-USOC does

E-USOC (Spanish User Support and Operations Centre) is a research center of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) located at the Campus de Montegancedo in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid. Established in 2008, the center serves as the designated Spanish national point of contact for scientific teams developing microgravity experiments, operating as a User Support and Operations Centre (USOC) on behalf of the European Space Agency. Its core function is the preparation, execution, and data processing of experiments conducted on the International Space Station — particularly aboard ESA's Columbus module and NASA's U.S. Laboratory — including the Fluid Science Laboratory, the SODI instrument, and the Transparent Alloys series (SEBA1, SETA, METCOMP, CETSOL-1, CETSOL-2). The center has completed 15+ ISS experiments and supports additional work via parabolic flight campaigns and small-satellite missions (QBITO CubeSat, QB50 consortium).

The center's technical stack comprises an operational Control Room with real-time audio/video links to the ISS, an ISO-classified Clean Room for hardware integration, a ground-based Fluids Laboratory equipped with electromagnetic shakers, high-speed cameras, and infrared LASER equipment for vibration and microgravity-analog experiments, and a UHF/VHF Ground Station (call sign EA4RCN) for amateur satellite tracking. Experiment capabilities span fluid physics, colloidal self-assembly, thermodiffusion, directional solidification of metal alloys, foam stability, plant phototropism (Seedling Growth series), and Marangoni convection-based phase change materials. E-USOC's work has produced large scientific datasets, including over 260 GB from GeoFlow-2, 560 GB from FOAM-S, and 159 GB generated onboard during SODI-IVIDIL.

E-USOC does not operate a commercial go-to-market motion. Revenue is sourced from ESA research contracts, UPM institutional funding, and Spanish government research grants (Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación, CDTI). The center is led by Professor Ana Laverón and staffed by approximately 14-16 researchers, including PhD candidates and students. International collaborators include NASA, the Universiteit van Amsterdam, Université Libre de Bruxelles, RWTH Aachen (Access e.V.), and CIB-CSIC. The center has received the ESA ISS Awards 2013 and a Zeldovich Medal (2014) for individual researcher contributions.

Name

E-USOC

Legal name

E-USOC (Spanish User Support and Operations Centre)

Website

https://eusoc.upm.es

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

E-USOC is the Spanish User Support and Operations Centre at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, providing ground operations, real-time monitoring, and experiment lifecycle support for microgravity science aboard the International Space Station on behalf of ESA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Space Research Operations / Microgravity Mission Support

NAICS

Space Research and Technology (927)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Ground Segment Systems (Ground Stations, TT&C, Mission Ops) (IMABACAJ)

Keywords

• Microgravity research operations
• Space experiment support
• ISS payload operations
• Fluid science experiments
• Satellite ground station services

Headquarters

HQ city

Pozuelo de Alarcón

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. ESA Research Contracts: E-USOC receives funding from the European Space Agency (ESA) to operate microgravity experiments on the International Space Station. Funding covers preparation, execution, and data processing of space experiments.
2. UPM Institutional Funding: As a center of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), E-USOC receives institutional support including facilities, staff, and administrative infrastructure.
3. Spanish Government Research Grants: E-USOC receives funding through Spanish national research programs such as the Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación, including grants for projects like MarPCM from CDTI.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

E-USOC is ESA's designated Spanish User Support and Operations Centre, providing end-to-end ground operations support for microgravity experiments on the International Space Station. Its core services include remote payload operations (notably for the Fluid Science Laboratory and the SODI instrument in the Columbus module), real-time monitoring from a dedicated Control Room, scientific data processing and dissemination, and CubeSat tracking via its ground station. The center also operates supporting facilities — a Fluids Laboratory, ISO-classified Clean Room, and Ground Station — that enable experiment preparation, ground-based vibration testing, and educational satellite operations.

Product overview

E-USOC (Spanish User Support and Operations Centre) is a research center at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid that provides comprehensive ground support for space microgravity experiments. Its core offering includes real-time ISS experiment operations via a dedicated Control Room, supported by facilities such as the Fluids Laboratory (with electromagnetic shakers and high-speed imaging), a Clean Room for hardware integration, and a Ground Station for CubeSat tracking. E-USOC operates as ESA's Facility Support Centre for the Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL) and has executed multiple experiment series including the Transparent Alloys experiments (SEBA1, SETA, METCOMP, CETSOL-1, CETSOL-2), SODI experiments (COLLOID, DCMIX), and foam/physics experiments (FOAM-S, EPO Foam Stability, GeoFlow-2). The center also developed the QBITO CubeSat for the QB50 thermosphere study.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ISS Experiment Operations Support End-to-end remote operations support for experiments conducted on the International Space Station, including real-time monitoring, experiment execution scripts, and coordination with NASA and ESA for ESA-funded microgravity payloads.
• Control Room Operations Service Real-time ISS operations environment providing audio and video links to the space station for monitoring and commanding experiments; the primary E-USOC operational facility used to execute ISS payloads.
• Fluids Laboratory Service Ground-based fluid dynamics laboratory equipped with electromagnetic shakers, high-speed cameras, and infrared LASER equipment for vibration studies and preparation of microgravity and parabolic flight experiments.
• Ground Station (Satellite Tracking) Service Amateur satellite tracking station with Yagi antennas for UHF and VHF frequencies, ICOM IC 910H radio, and automatic rotor control, operating under call sign EA4RCN. Used to track educational CubeSats including QB50 mission satellites.
• Clean Room Service ISO-classified clean room facility used for spacecraft hardware integration and testing in support of ISS payload preparations.
• Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL) Facility Support E-USOC's role as Facility Support Centre (FSC) for ESA's Fluid Science Laboratory housed in the Columbus module, including remote operation of Experiment Containers such as GeoFlow.
• Transparent Alloys Experiment Series Series of microgravity experiments studying directional solidification of metal alloys in real time, comprising SEBA1 (2018), SETA (2020), METCOMP (2021), CETSOL-1 (2022) and CETSOL-2 (planned), executed for principal investigators at Access e.V. / RWTH Aachen.
• SODI-COLLOID Experiment Operations Operations support for the three-dimensional photonic structures study using the Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument to investigate colloidal self-assembly for future nanotechnology applications, with Universiteit van Amsterdam as User Home Base.
• SODI-DCMIX / DCMIX2 Experiment Operations Diffusion coefficients measurements of ternary fluid mixtures in microgravity, applied to petroleum reservoir modelling and improved oil extraction efficiency.
• GeoFlow-2 Experiment Operations Earth mantle simulation conducted inside the ISS using fluid confined between concentric spheres with applied electric fields, studying convection and flow patterns to inform geological modelling.
• FOAM-S Experiment Operations Study of aqueous and non-aqueous foam behaviour in microgravity, examining wet foams that cannot be stabilised on Earth due to drainage.
• QBITO CubeSat Operations Operations support for the first CubeSat developed by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid as part of the QB50 mission to study the lower thermosphere; deployed from the ISS in May 2017.
• EPO Foam Stability Educational Experiment Educational microgravity experiment studying foam stability, with classroom outreach activities targeted at European school students aged 10-14.
• MarPCM Experiment Operations Marangoni Phase Change Materials experiment approved by ESA for ISS execution, studying heat transfer enhancement in PCM devices via Marangoni convection for aerospace thermal control applications. First entirely Spanish-led experiment approved by ESA.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15 successful ISS experiments executed with high data quality and scientific output
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• European Space Agency (ESA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary partner and funding source. E-USOC operates as ESA's Spanish User Support and Operations Centre, preparing and executing microgravity experiments on the International Space Station. Receives research contracts and institutional support from ESA for Columbus module operations.
• NASAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with E-USOC on ISS payload operations, particularly for SODI experiments in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) and U.S. Laboratory. NASA astronauts install hardware and E-USOC provides remote monitoring and operations support.
• Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific team (User Home Base) for SODI-COLLOID experiments studying three-dimensional photonic structures and colloidal aggregation phenomena in microgravity.
• Access e.V. (RWTH Aachen University)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrincipal investigators for the Transparent Alloys series of experiments (SEBA1, SETA, METCOMP, CETSOL-1, CETSOL-2) proposing studies of solidification phenomena in microgravity.
• QinetiQ Space IndustrymajorTechnology or IntegrationPayload developer for COLLOID experiments and SODI hardware. Developed experiment containers and scientific instrumentation used in E-USOC-operated microgravity experiments.
• NTE SENERmajorTechnology or IntegrationSpanish technology company selected by ESA to design, develop, and manufacture the FixBox for Seedling Growth-3 experiment, integrating seed cassettes within restricted ISS freezer space.
• MARS (Microgravity Advanced Research and Support Centre)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with E-USOC on GeoFlow-2 operations, supporting fluid physics research activities.
• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent institution providing facilities, staff, and institutional support. E-USOC is part of the School of Aerospace Engineering (ETSIAE) and operates from UPM's Campus de Montegancedo.
• QB50 ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean project network of 36 CubeSats for thermosphere research. E-USOC participated with QBITO, the first CubeSat by UPM, deployed from ISS in May 2017.
• Universidad de Mondragón and Universitat Rovira i VirgiliminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpanish universities collaborating with E-USOC on the MarPCM (Marangoni Phase Change Materials) experiment proposal for ESA, focusing on heat transfer enhancement in PCM devices.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Biomedical Research Support Centre (Research Institute for Space Medicine, DLR): DLR's broader space-medicine and life-science microgravity operations arm; overlaps with E-USOC on ISS science operations support but operates at significantly larger scale and across more disciplines.

Regional players

• NovoSpace (CNES subsidiary): Operates ESA parabolic-flight campaigns used by E-USOC for ground-test campaigns; adjacent microgravity-experiment services rather than direct ground-segment competition.

Direct peers

• CADMOS (CNES): French User Support and Operations Centre operated by CNES; provides the same ESA USOC role as E-USOC for French scientific teams, offering ground operations, payload monitoring, and ISS experiment life-cycle support.
• MARS Centre (Italy): Italian centre providing microgravity payload operations and experiment support for ESA; already a documented collaborator on GeoFlow-2 with E-USOC.
• N-USOC (Netherlands): ESA-designated USOC supporting Dutch microgravity investigations; directly comparable mandate and operational footprint to E-USOC.
• B-USOC (BIRA-IASB): Belgian USOC at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy; performs ESA ISS user support for Belgian principal investigators with the same mandate structure as Spain's E-USOC.
• MUSC / D-USOC (DLR): German Microgravity User Support Centre at DLR; counterpart USOC performing ESA-designated Facility Support Centre duties for German microgravity investigators in much the same configuration as E-USOC.

Emerging players

• Theia Space (UPM spin-off): Spin-off from UPM linked through the E-USOC ecosystem; pursues smallsat and space-tech commercial projects emerging from the same research base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/e_usoc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/e-usoc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about E-USOC