First of all, let me give you a brief definition of design: it is a philosophy of product and service creation that takes user needs into account. 
This allows designers to operate at several levels:

- Ensure that a company's strategy is in line with the needs of the market and of customers - Create services that will respond to the challenges, issues and contexts of use. A badly designed service is a service that will not be used - Create business tools and interfaces that meet the highest standards of user experience

Today in the space sector, the added value no longer lies only in the technical competence, but also in the guarantee to offer a service tailored to customer needs.
For example, if I am a satellite imagery startup, I want to make sure that my service is easier to use than those of my competitors.

In space, investments are important and long term. Working with a designer means making sure that there is a real market need for the investment you are about to make.

It is precisely in a context of massive investment that I had the chance to work with the space sector, and to prove the value that design can bring.


In 2019, I was in charge of a study to envision the future of the European space port in Kourou for the CNES. The design methodology allowed us to understand the issues around the spaceport, the needs of all the stakeholders (institutions, space operators and new space startups) and to come up with a concept that took these different needs into account.

Thanks to this user-centered approach, our proposal was very well received internally.

I always try to value the needs of our users, before going straight into technical considerations. My philosophy is to first test our clients' business appeal before jumping straight into technical development. That's the value of design: to make sure that we're going in the right direction, before making major investments in the technical side.

If you want to learn more, I wrote an article that explains the value of Design for the space industry: https://medium.com/@lbrotel/design-the-new-strategic-asset-of-the-space-industry-53163eec64e0