Host

Welcome to the
INNOspace Masters 2026
Engage on Earth, Unite in Space –
Exploring Next Level
Cross-Sector Innovations

Submission
closed

Submission
closed

Meet the TOP 3 of the ESA BA Challenge 2026

Here are the winners of the ESA BA Challenge 2026 “Space for a Resilient Society” (in no specific order):

TWT GmbH – Science & Innovation: Resilient Food Water Mapping

AI‑Enhanced Mapping for Sustainable Food and Drinking‑Water Resilience: Integrated Satellite and Ground Sensor Analytics for European Agriculture (Dr Carsten Kübler, Dr Enrique Guerrero Merino, Dr Martin Obstbaum): The supply of food and drinking water in Europe is increasingly under threat from climate change, groundwater depletion and rising demand. This project offers a resilient agricultural system that uses Earth observation data and smart ground sensors to enable proactive, resource-efficient decision-making. It provides real-time resource maps and classifies every agricultural parcel according to the optimal food type, water demand and expected yield under current and forecast conditions.

OMEGA Space Technology GmbH: SecureEye

Satellite-Powered Crop Monitoring Platform for Agricultural Insurers to Enable Proactive Damage Prevention Across Europe (Marcel Winzen, Sherif Elsayed): SecureEye is a satellite-powered crop monitoring service that allows agricultural insurers to provide their insured farmers with proactive damage prevention. Rather than simply reacting to losses, insurers can become active partners in protecting crops. The AI platform delivers field-level crop health monitoring, drought stress alerts and growth anomaly detection for farmers. For insurers, it provides aggregated crop health analytics, regional risk heat maps and early warnings across all insured farmland.

LARABICUS: LARABICUS FoulCast

Satellite-Optimised Autonomous Hull Cleaning for Maritime Decarbonisation and Biofouling Compliance (Thomas Schomberg, Dr Florian Gerland): Biofouling on ship hulls can increase fuel consumption by up to 25%. The initial slime layer (biofilm) takes hours to weeks to form, depending on environmental conditions. LARABICUS solves this problem using autonomous robots that remove the biofilm continuously during normal sea passages, before it can cause damage. This service is enhanced by a satellite-based fouling analysis module that uses vessel-specific parameters to estimate the growth pressure of biofilms per route segment and season.

Meet the winners and learn more about their exciting innovations at our Final Event on 12 November 2026 in Berlin. Registration will open soon. Stay tuned!

Meet the TOP 3 of the ESA BIC Challenge 2026

Here are the winners of the ESA BIC Challenge 2026 “Join the New Space Economy” (in no specific order):

erable.systems: Blade

Autonomous Controlled Descent System (ACDS) Autorotation system for controlled deployment of lightweight systems and mesh-networks (Maximilian Hesse, Clemens Riegler, Niklas Johne, Julian Junker): Blade is an autonomous, efficient sensor deployment platform for scalable in-situ data collection in areas where distributing sensors manually is too complex, risky, or costly. Nowadays critical information is mainly gathered via drones or satellites which are limited by flight time, weather, access windows, and distance from the actual point of interest. As a result, local data is often missing exactly where decisions must be made. Blade’s controllable carrier and landing system deploys sensors precisely, affordably, and at large scale.

Linq Photonics GmbH: Linq Photonics

Chip-level integrated photonic light modulators that split a laser into 3X more channels than current solutions (Jade Robinson, Julius Römer, Julian Rasmus Bankwitz): Linq Photonics develops compact, high-performance photonic components for quantum computing, optical satellite communication, and space applications. These systems require precise and stable electro-optic laser modulation for laser control, timing, encoding, and communication. Unlike conventional bulky optical setups, Linq’s chip-integrated photonic modulators provide three times more channels while using only 10% of the space. Their alignment-free design offers exceptional stability and reliable operation in cryogenic, vacuum, and thermally demanding environments.

Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI: SpaceBLAST

Laser surface structuring of hard metals to increase the built-in emissivity of the material for thermal management in space (Hanan Al-Haddar, Dr Ahmad Abdalwareth): Overheating of spacecraft systems and components is one of the main reasons for space missions’ failure. Our patented femtosecond laser surface‑structuring technology enhances the emissivity of hard metals, enabling reliable and robust thermal regulation for space applications. The femtosecond laser increases the built-in emissivity of the material up to 99%, while preserving other properties of the bulk material like conductivity and magnetism.

Meet the winners and learn more about their exciting innovations at our Final Event on 12 November 2026 in Berlin. Registration will open soon. Stay tuned!

Meet the TOP 4 of the German Space Agency at DLR Challenge 2026

Here are the winners of the German Space Agency at DLR Challenge 2026 “Groundbreaking Cross-Sector Innovations”. We have chosen two winners in each of two categories (in no specific order):

Category “Research Consortium”:

Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI: BLAST-WHITE

White laser structured metal surfaces with maximized thermal emissivity and minimized visible light absorptivity (Prof Dr Eike Hübner): Thermal management is a major challenge for spacecrafts. In the vacuum of space, heat can only be dissipated by thermal radiation. However, good thermal emitters are typically also strong solar absorbers. An ideal surface therefore reflects visible sunlight to minimize heating while efficiently emitting thermal radiation. This project addresses this challenge by developing sustainable, white, highly reflective, and thermally emissive surfaces through femtosecond laser structuring of bulk materials.

Helmholtz Munich: SpaceOPUS for venous thrombosis risk monitoring

A novel optoacoustic–ultrasound platform for venous thrombosis risk monitoring in space and transformative cardiovascular care on Earth (Axel Müller, Heiko Ott, Maximilian Bader): Long-duration spaceflights cause persistent fluid shifts towards the head of astronauts, increasing the risk of thrombosis. SpaceOPUS uses ultrasound examinations alongside functional optoacoustic oxygen saturation monitoring to provide novel, spaceflight-derived biomarkers and mechanistic insights into specific veins and surrounding tissues. This enables the early detection of problems and the initiation of countermeasures.

Category “Industry”:

NUWAM GmbH: CoolCerAM – Additive manufacturing of ceramic transpiration cooling

Additive manufacturing of high-performance ceramic components with integrated graded porosity for transpiration cooling (Dr Uwe Scheithauer, Dr Christian Bach): High-performance electronics must be cooled precisely where heat is generated and where materials are subject to maximum thermal stress. The CoolCerAM project develops heat-resistant ceramic components with integrated cooling by building a complete manufacturing process, from ceramic powders and 3D printing to post-processing and testing. By creating controlled porosity, the new ceramic components provide more effective cooling than conventional heat sinks while reducing weight and improving efficiency.

Merck: BESTalain – Deep Space Radioprotector

Harnessing and Optimizing Nature’s Radiation Shield to Protect Astronauts in Deep Space (Dr Alexander Sommerkamp, Dr Maike Kober Hasslacher, Dr Ulrich Betz): Radiation is one of the greatest barriers to human space exploration. Beyond Earth’s magnetic field, high-energy particles damage cells and threaten astronaut health – with no effective pharmacological solution yet available. BESTalain addresses this gap by developing radioprotective compounds inspired by natural pigments, then optimizing them through advanced pharmaceutical chemistry. The result: a safe, orally administered radioprotector purpose-built for astronauts, with future potential in aviation, nuclear medicine and emergency response.

Meet the winners and learn more about their exciting innovations at our Final Event on 12 November 2026 in Berlin. Registration will open soon. Stay tuned!

Facts & Figures

This year’s competition was the most successful yet. We received 313 submissions — nearly 100 more than last year, and more than 300 for the first time. With 864 participants, more people took part than ever before. One reason for this: An increasing number of participants are joining forces to form strong consortia and develop ideas in innovative, collaborative teams – exactly in line with the spirit of our competition.

Participants came from 38 countries around the globe. First-time participants included Algeria, Georgia, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.

Next steps

This is what will happen next:

  • Evaluation: Our judges will select the finalists for each challenge by 22 May
  • Challenge Finals: The winners will be chosen from the finalists via online pitches between 25 May and 19 June. The exact dates for each challenge are as follows:
    • ESA BIC Challenge: 1 June
    • ESA BA Challenge: 2 June
    • German Space Agency at DLR Challenge: 3 June
    • Mercedes-Benz car2space Challenge: 12 June
    • OHB Challenge: 16 June
    • Airbus Challenge: 18 June
  • Winner’s Pitch Bonn: The final decision will be made live in Bonn on 30 June and 1 July. Who will beat the competition and be crowned the Overall Winner?

Please note that the finalists and winners must pitch their ideas several times within different time limits, as shown on the second slide.

The ESA BIC Challenge has a slightly different evaluation phase, with a shortened initial evaluation and an additional coaching phase:

  • Online evaluation to select the finalists: 1 to 15 April
  • Individual business coaching: 16 April to 31 May
  • Online pitches to select the winners: 1 June

All winners will be announced and honored at our Final Event in Berlin on 12 November. Save the date!

Want to stay up to date?

Sign here: 

We don’t spam! Read our privacy police for more info.