Skywin

Skywin is the aerospace and space cluster for Wallonia, Belgium. It brings together companies, universities and research centres in the aero, space, drone and defence sectors. The cluster has 145 members.

Members include 101 SMEs, 14 large companies, 9 universities and 17 research or competence centres. The cluster has 105 labelled projects, with a total project budget of 295 million euros.

Skywin's mission is to strengthen technological progress and operational excellence for the Walloon aerospace industry. Its services include innovation support, internationalisation, networking, market studies, training and the Made Different programme. It also runs a scale-up programme for companies.

The cluster works in five technology areas. These are structures, propulsion and flying subsystems, innovative materials and processes, embedded and communicating systems, data economics and artificial intelligence, and simulation, modelling and test facilities.

Skywin runs collaborative projects for its members. Projects start with a call from the Walloon government, and members show interest with a letter of intent. The cluster reviews the drafts, and international experts and an internal selection committee assess them. The cluster also takes part in European projects.

About 90% of turnover in the cluster goes to export, so internationalisation is a main goal. Membership is open to businesses and research bodies, with several membership types and fees. The cluster publishes a member directory, a defence industry report for Wallonia and an annual activity report.

Services

• Innovation support
• Internationalisation
• Networking
• Market studies
• Made Different programme
• Training
• Collaborative projects for members
• Calls for projects
• Labelled projects
• Cluster membership