The Space Institute for Researches on Innovative Uses of Satellites (SIRIUS) has been created in 2013 thanks to an academic, public and industrial partnership between several of the most important European actors in the space industry. It reunites the distinguished Toulouse I Capitole University, the Toulouse Business School, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Airbus Defense and Space and Thales Alenia Space.

The SIRIUS Chair focuses on exploring the space sector needs in terms of innovative space law and business research allowing to satisfy the expectations and constraints of companies, institutions, local authorities, citizens and the emergence of new political, financial, legal or industrial schemes that open the way to future developments which generate jobs and economic spin-offs for France.

It produces reference studies that are eligible for publication in the best (peer-reviewed) international scientific journals. It carries out studies on behalf of the French space industry and helps train and inform the personnel concerned, through seminars or specialized workshops.

The team focuses particularly on the legal, social, economic and managerial issues confronting space activities and, especially, those raised by the generalization of the use of satellites and the multiplication of space applications.

The PwC space practice enables its partners to identify the available levers to generate growth through their projects. Our team relies on a strong sectorial expertise, on demonstrated competencies for strategy definition to the optimisation of operations, and on our access to an international and multidisciplinary network of over 200 000 skilled collaborators.

Whether we are supporting government agencies and public institutions, satellite operators, service providers or industrial players, we provide our clients with confidence that their strategies, policies, investments, and organic capabilities will coherently combine to achieve the desired results. We have developed a comprehensive suite of methodologies to cover the whole spectrum of socio-economic impact assessments. The approach, which has been used and validated on numerous occasions, can be applied to large-scale public or private investments in infrastructure or space programmes.

We have supported public bodies to analyse regulations impacting the space sector from upstream to downstream. Our team includes legally trained consultants, supported for in-depth assessments by PwC Société d’Avocats, PwC France’s legal services arm, which operates in the global network of PwC lawyers. This allows for timely relevant expertise that is invaluable in cases requiring an understanding of legal challenges with a regional or global reach.

We also support institutional bodies, space agencies and private customers involved in major space programmes in the analysis of governance, organisational structure and management of human capital. We look at different organisational, operating, and outsourcing models to target governance and operational excellence.