The €60,000 (£52,200/$63,800) grant forms part of the ESA's kick-start activities, aimed at companies seeking to undertake feasibility studies for up to six months to explore new service concepts using space-related technology.

This is with a view to developing the application and piloting the service, and ultimately producing an economically sustainable service.

It is hoped that projects can encourage a return to pre-pandemic levels of activities.

Objectives including enhancing performance, building resilience, promoting digital engagement and supporting the creation of inclusive and accessible sports equipment are required to be achieved through the use of space-related digital technologies.

The inclusive and accessible sport funding is 75 per cent provided by the ESA, and is open to companies based in its member states.

Applications are required to obtain a letter of authorisation from the national delegation of the country.

Details of the scheme, for which applications are set to be open until the end of February, were revealed in a joint webinar by the ESA and European Platform for Sports Innovation (EPSI).

The two organisations had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the development of space and use applications to support innovation which addresses the evolution of the sports sector.

ESA space applications engineer and technical officer Kavitha Muthu outlined connections between sport and space.

Muthu explained some of the areas where space technology is used in sport.

"After COVID, there was huge research on how motivated athletes and the sports persons are in terms of training themselves, in terms of engagement with their mental health, because for sports I think the most important aspect of being a sports person is being in that community or group, engaging with them," she said.

"You could be looking at those ones as well.

"And tracking the performance, so wearable technology, looking at the environmental factors, looking at the location, looking at it has [it] been good for my training and tracking performance and collecting data."

The management of competitions from an environmental sustainability perspective, fan engagement, event safety and facility management were other areas identified by Muthu as providing a connection between space and sport.

Relevant technologies cited included satellite communication, navigation, observation and technology from human spaceflight.

"We are trying to support every type of space application to address the market," Muthu said.

"It could be earth observation, navigation, satellite communication, spaceflight and look at what is the market for that.

"There is no point in developing something if there is no market for it.

"It's really important for us to look at what is the market and how do we address those challenges."

Muthu outlined the ESA's interaction and engagement with high-profile sports bodies including the Paris 2024 and Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committees, UEFA and the International University Sports Federation.

Examples of space-related technology being used in sport included the October 2021 Manchester Marathon, which used satellite communication and localisation to help deliver more than 250,000 images within eight seconds of them being taken, Golf Data Intellect which uses satellite technology and images to determine the exact position of a golfer and shots played and SeaUrchin, which can track surf sessions in the water.

EPSI executive director Alberto Bichi concluded by declaring the organisation was "very proud to have established this collaboration with the European Space Agency."

"We have signed this Memorandum of Intent some months ago, and so indeed we are engaging and practically supporting this MoI in the best possible manner," he said.