The growth of the space sector in Brno is hindered by a lack of experts. Therefore, BUT is doubling its capacity for space education

Brno, February 19, 2025 — The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication Technologies BUT has decided to increase the number of admitted students to the master's degree program Space Applications from the current 20 to double starting next academic year. This decision responds to the critical shortage of qualified professionals essential for the growth of local companies operating in the space industry.

The space industry has been rapidly developing in South Moravia in recent years, and the Brno region can now be considered the center of this industrial sector in the Czech Republic. According to an expert estimate by the local association of companies, Brno Space Cluster, space companies in the region employ 410 specialists and generate annual revenues of 1 billion CZK. With the growing global demand for space technologies, these companies have enormous potential for further development and international expansion. However, they face a critical shortage of employees, which could slow down this growth.

“Currently, we record over 55 job openings in South Moravian space companies, which have hired approximately 120 new experts over the past three years, about 40 per year. To fully utilize their potential and continue growing, companies would need to hire at least 100 new qualified employees annually over the next five years. However, there is currently a shortage of such professionals in the labor market,” says Václav Havlíček, manager of the Brno Space Cluster.

For these reasons, the leadership of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication Technologies, which currently teaches the only program in the Czech Republic entirely focused on the space industry, has decided to increase its capacity from the current 20 admitted students to 40. “Education, research, and development in the field of space technologies and applications represent one of the main strategic areas of the Brno University of Technology. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication Technologies has been associated with this field for several decades, particularly in the development of satellites and satellite communication systems. Years ago, it also launched a unique and still the only comprehensive master's program in the Czech Republic under the name Space Applications, which is also supported by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. This faculty additionally offers another master's program called Aerospace and Space Technology, which partly focuses on designing space structures and mechanical technologies for space systems, as well as space flight mechanics. Expanding educational capacities in the field of space applications at BUT is a key step to maintaining and further strengthening Brno’s position as a space innovation center. Expanding the Space Applications program, which is fully taught in English, will allow the university to attract talented students from the Czech Republic and abroad and provide them with top-tier, prestigious education directly linked to practice in the Brno region,” says Ladislav Janíček, Rector of BUT.

“It has become standard practice for students to gain paid internships at Brno’s space companies during their studies. We also directly collaborate with the German Aerospace Center and the European Space Agency, whose experts travel to our university to lecture,” says Tomáš Götthans, program director of Space Applications. Students also develop valuable practical skills in the university's student team YSpace, which recently secured ESA support to launch its own satellite carrying the first Czech space biomission, CIMER, focusing on studying cyanobacteria in microgravity. Thanks to this strong link between theory and practice, graduates of the program leave the university as fully qualified engineers with the certainty of well-paid jobs in the region.

Innovation support and technology transfer in the region are also provided by the JIC agency. Among other things, it operates the local branch of the European Space Agency's incubator (ESA BIC), which has already supported nearly 20 companies and systematically helps create and develop new startups. One example is ZAITRA, whose founder, Marek Marušin, started his business while still studying. Today, his company develops advanced software utilizing artificial intelligence for satellites in orbit.

“Our mission is, among other things, to motivate students to pursue entrepreneurship and help them develop their ideas. The space industry has enormous potential. We can see this in global investment trends. The more top experts we have here, the greater the potential for transferring innovations from academia to practice, leading to more globally successful startups. And that is our goal,” says Petr Chládek, director of the JIC innovation agency.

Applications for the Space Applications program can be submitted until March 31. More information is available at https://spaceapps.cz/.

MEDIA CONTACT

Brno University of Technology

Kamila Šmídková

Press Spokesperson

+420 778 790 510

smidkovak@vutbr.cz

Tomáš Gotthans

Program Director, Space Applications

+420 775 026 983

gotthans@vut.cz

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Zuzana Kašparová

PR Manager

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