FERROTHERM

FERROTHERM

FERROTHERM

“Moon Village” is considered one of the most important projects of manned space flight. However, the long-term energy supply for the urbanisation of the Moon has not yet been clarified. Temperatures vary between -170 °C and +120 °C, and solar energy is unavailable during the two week long moon nights. There are no fossil fuels on the Moon. The energy supply must be secured with lunar regolith, a mixture of different metal oxides. Current storage systems, such as batteries, heat accumulators or mechanical storage units, lack the capacity for long-term supply. The Fraunhofer IST and ICT are developing a process by which metallic iron can be extracted from regolith and used as a non-fossil fuel. Unlike fossil fuels, the combustion products are solid and can be collected. They are recycled in a novel process and can be reused. The unique solution uses a direct electrochemical process to recycle the iron oxide in order to produce iron again, bypassing the previously known hydrogen route. This makes the process very efficient. It operates at temperatures below 100°C. The process can be used terrestrially in modified power plants or combined heat and power plants and thus makes a significant contribution to climate protection (decarbonisation).

Benefits:

  • Circular economy
  • Time-independent energy supply (day/night) on the Moon
  • Iron fuel is extracted from lunar regolith
  • On Earth, the process makes an important contribution to decarbonisation
  • Combustion products are recycled by means of excess electricity

Fraunhofer IST
Dr Andreas Dietz
Andreas.Dietz@ist.fraunhofer.de
ist.fraunhofer.de

Fraunhofer

Aerostructure Multifunctional Cover Against Environmental Radiation

Aerostructure Multifunctional Cover Against Environmental Radiation

3 AeroMulE_Pitchdeck_INNOspace Masters 2022

We all increasingly use communication networks, including Wi-Fi, mobile phones, satellite networks, Internet of Things, autonomous driving, and monitoring in medicine and the environment. People, as well as machines, will become more and more connected wirelessly. Therefore, the number of antennas integrated into electronic devices is drastically increasing, resulting in strong demand for countermeasures against unwanted signals and noise. Until now, typically metal-based materials have been used to shield electronics. While these are very secure, they are intrinsically very heavy. Moreover, the antennas themselves cannot be covered, as they would then no longer be able to transmit signals. We aim here to drastically reduce the weight of such shields by employing an ultra-lightweight class of materials, called framework aero materials. We will develop small, innovative safety caps that are easy to apply, without being a barrier to the further miniaturization of electronic devices. This new kind of cap will also enable frequency selectivity, thereby increasing the digital security of communication.

Benefits:

  • Ultra-lightweight cover against unwanted  signals
  • Increase in digital security and protection against jamming
  • Frequency-selective: antennas can be protected
  • Very adaptable for specific geometries without mounting interfaces
  • High frequency tightness
  • Wide range of applications at different value-added levels

Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik der Technischen Universität Dresden
Dr Tino Schmiel
tino.schmiel@tu-dresden.de
Institut für Materialwissenschaften der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Dr Fabian Schütt
fas@tf.uni-kiel.de

PFDS – Pre-Ignition Fire Detection System

PFDS – Pre-Ignition Fire Detection System

Downward burning of the Saffire V sample at 60kPa_40O2

Fire on board inhabited spacecraft or habitats on the Moon or Mars is one of the greatest conceivable hazards. Fires are currently detected exclusively by smoke detectors. Due to the weightlessness in orbit, they are prone to frequent false alarms triggered by non-sedimenting dust, while the preferred direction of smoke propagation is slowly towards the life-support system’s intake. In addition, smoke detectors can principally only detect an existing fire situation and, in the omnipresence of dust on the Moon, they can no longer be expected to function reliably. The new PFDS approach detects potential fire sources based on off-normal thermal outgassing of materials, e.g., volatile organic components from plastics or fabrics, in the cabin air. The semiconducting metal oxide sensors do not react to specific gases, but react to alterations in the overall composition of the air. Trained by applying machine-learning methods, they can reliably recognise alarming composition patterns. The method has already been successfully used to survey underground high-voltage power lines. It also has great potential for improved detection of terrestrial fires – ideally long before they break out.

Benefits:

  • Detection of potential fire sources even before ignition occurs
  • Proven principle
  • Low-cost components (for terrestrial application)
  • Easy installation
  • Wide range of applications

Universität Bremen,
Zentrum für angewandte Raumfahrttechnologie und Mikrogravitation, ZARM
Christian Eigenbrod
Christian.Eigenbrod@zarm.uni-bremen.de
zarm.uni-bremen.de

Spacecopter – A Novel Technical Approach for Reusable Space Launch Vehicles

Spacecopter – A Novel Technical Approach for Reusable Space Launch Vehicles

Spacecopter Plakat

The Spacecopter concept provides a new approach for reusable space launch vehicles that will not only drastically reduce the transportation cost for payloads into orbit but also has the potential to fundamentally revolutionise spaceflight. By combining known and well-established technologies from the automotive, electric flight and chemical battery industry, the Spacecopter project is a low-risk but highly innovative answer to the problem of high transportation costs for orbital payloads. Utilising electrically-driven propellers for the initial launch phase and to return rocket stages to the ground will not only reduce costs but also reduce the mechanical and acoustic loads for the payload. The Spacecopter concept will allow a commercial airline type of operation with only minor check-out procedures between flights. This not only allows completely new market approaches and business opportunities for launch service customers but will, in the long term, squeeze all classic expendable launch vehicles out of the market.

Benefits:

  • Cost reduction for space launch services of up to 80%
  • Low environmental impact and low carbon footprint
  • Low mechanical and acoustic impact on payloads
  • High reliability
  • Airline type of operation

MAS-Tech Solutions – Smartify your component

MAS-Tech Solutions – Smartify your component

logo-type-rollup

In the manufacturing process, there is a great need for more sophisticated data analysis – a need that has been brought to us by several players from industry. While showing simple deep learning inference models run on a smartphone, we identified great potential for parameter optimisation on CNC mills, better selection of rejects of 3D-printed parts, or in turning machines. Similarly, lots of data must be processed in space, spaceship components tested on the ground before launch, and/or collected data analysed on the ground. This can be automated using AI-based data analysis of all types of sensors. We are currently in the prototyping phase for a drill chuck for a CNC milling machine, or similar, in order to train the networks and set up the generic data platform. In a second step, MAS-Tech aims to transfer the approach of CNC sensor analysis to telemetry data from ESA’s Gaia, which (to our knowledge) is processed manually, and similar space application scenarios. We will then address customers. The total available AI-based sensor market, and also the serviceable obtainable market, is tremendous and growing rapidly, especially in Germany with the many mid-sized engineering companies.

Benefits:

  • Generic data platform
  • Holistic sensor data analysis
  • Platform-independent, scalable and adaptive
  • Reliable (and documented) decisions
  • Reduced work for skilled experts

MAS-Tech Solutions
Maximilian Binder
binder.maximilian93@gmail.com
Amelie Erben
amelie.erben@tum.de
Severin Reiz
s.reiz@tum.de

HERA – Integration of active and passive thermal management system for batteries in electrical cars within a load-bearing structure

HERA – Integration of active and passive thermal management system for batteries in electrical cars within a load-bearing structure

Visual

Batteries in electric vehicles need to operate within a narrow temperature window to ensure maximum range and a long life. Load peaks, such as rapid charging and high acceleration or cold/hot environmental conditions, can cause the battery to exceed this window. Large active thermal management systems are currently used to absorb load peaks and prevent the battery from heating up or cooling down. These active systems consume a large amount of energy and imply additional mass. Furthermore, they are often not able to maintain the optimal operating temperature indefinitely, causing degradation of the battery cells. At HERA, we buffer load peaks by means of latent heat storage in passive components based on phase-change materials (PCM). To make this as efficient as possible, we have developed an intelligent structure that couples effective storage of the heat generated in the battery in the PCM with a tailored active cooling system. In this way, load peaks can be levelled out, thereby increasing range and extending battery life. The structure is based on Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS), which also allows efficient mass-specific mechanical load-bearing capability.

Benefits:

  • Weight savings through loadbearing structure.
  • Possibility to manufacture these structures conventionally (no additive manufacturing necessary)
  • High adaptability through tailorable geometry
  • Wide range of other applications, such as electrical aviation, heat pumps, reusable rockets, or energy storage for energy grid stability

Institut für Strukturmechanik und Leichtbau
RWTH Aachen
Tobias Meinert
tobias.meinert@sla.rwth-aachen.de
rwth-aachen.de

ROBI – The Radiation Monitor

ROBI – The Radiation Monitor

ROBI

Sustained exposure to high-energy radiation can cause significant damage to both human and spacecraft life in space. Understanding the effects of radiation, as well as developing technology to counter its effects, necessitates a thorough understanding of the radiation environment.
The current capability allows us to study radiation around the near-Earth environment through statistical and analytical models. However, there is a paucity of empirical data that can aid accurate assessment of the environment. Digantara intends to fill this gap through actionable intelligence by measuring proton fluence and, as a result, proton radiation in near-real-time using in-situ radiation monitors. Digantara is developing ROBI – Radiation Monitor. The name ROBI means ‚Sun‘ in Sanskrit/Bengali, signifying the extensive presence of protons in space. ROBI is a proton fluence monitor that measures proton flux in real time. High-energy protons account for 95% of any solar event. Thus, measuring proton fluence is a good measure of ionising radiation in the near-Earth environment.

Benefits:

  • Miniaturised device: ultra-compact, extremely adaptable
  • Ultra-low power consumption
  • Digital output eliminates the need for supporting circuitry
  • Diverse applications from the medical sector to human space flight

From looking for life on Mars to saving lives on Earth

From looking for life on Mars to saving lives on Earth

Bild1

Every year, 15 million babies are born prematurely and 1 million die even though 75% could have been saved if they had been given proper care. However, modern neonatal care is too complex and costly to be given to all, and simpler, safer, and cheaper medical technology must be developed to end preventable child mortality. A good example of this need is blood gas monitoring, which is an important method to monitor the health of preterm infants, but suffers from considerable complexity and safety problems that limit its usefulness. For example, it requires the skin to be heated to harmful levels and needs to be attached with strong adhesives that risk tearing the skin. We use patented gas sensor technology that we initially developed to look for signs of past or present life on Mars to perform blood gas monitoring in a completely novel way. Thanks to this sensor’s unique properties, our prototype requires neither heating nor adhesives to perform the measurements and, hence, can facilitate both safer and simpler monitoring of the infants’ health.

Benefits:

  • Gas sensor for planetary exploration that found use in neonatal care
  • Unique features enable the removal of harmful practices in conventional solutions
  • Shows how space technology can create simpler, safer, and more accessible neonatal care

Fourth State Systems
Anders Ajaxon Persson
anders@fourthstatesystems.se
fourthstatesystems.se

Graphene mirrors for lightweight optical systems

Graphene mirrors for lightweight optical systems

Prototype

Aerospace mirrors need to perform throughout the system cycle under extreme conditions, although that comes at a price: heavy components that are not easy to substitute without introducing compromises in their specifications. Reflective films are an alternative to bulky mirrors, but they are mechanically fragile and have rough surfaces. SCALE Nanotech’s graphene micro-membrane technology offers a solution: G-Mirror©, an ultra-lightweight nanofilm that leverages the outperforming mechanical, optical and thermal properties of graphene material, while enabling cheap scale-up for its size and flexible shape (flat or curved). Our USP goes with our name: we SCALE up Nanotech. With G-Mirrors, graphene goes big or stays home: its size scalability and low mass will reduce payload costs, while its multipurpose nature allows for tailored solutions that tackle the specific applications of our customers with minimal impact on our manufacturing costs.

Benefits:

  • Ultra-thin and easy to pack (portable)
  • Large area and low mass (low cost)
  • Ultimate breaking strength (robust)
  • Minimal space footprint (clean)
  • Accepts different coatings (functional)

SCALE Nanotech OÜ
Dr Santiago J. Cartamil-Bueno
cartamil@scalenano.tech
Dr Barbara Núñez Fernández
bnunez@atrago.net
scalenano.tech

HELIOS – The next step in interplanetary transportation

HELIOS – The next step in interplanetary transportation

Interplanetary Space Station Launch Into Space. 3D Illustration.

Chemical and electric space thrusters occupy opposite positions on the propulsion spectrum. The choice is to use chemical propulsion with a short but strong thrust-pulse and low efficiency in fuel utilisation, or electric propulsion with continuous long-term but weak thrust and high efficiency in converting fuel into momentum for the spacecraft. There is a big gap in thruster parameters between these main thruster species; a niche for electric high-thrust propulsion like Helios.
To guarantee the achievement of highly efficient fuel utilisation, the Helios high-thrust device is basically an electric propulsion system with the benefit of boosting fuel efficiency by coupling external electrical energy in thrust generation. Based on this high momentum generation per fuel particle, the Helios propulsion concept offers the capability of high momentum change per time; high thrust completes the basic benefits of electric space propulsion.

Benefits:

  • Helios high-thrust electric propulsion combines the flexibility of a continuous electric thruster with the powerful behaviour of a chemical-like thrust level
  • Ability to switch on and off on demand and to adjust the operational time
  • High thrust level, which is able to change the momentum of a craft with high inertia in short time
  • Capabilities to react to sudden disturbances and to significantly reduce travel time by reaching maximum velocity at an earlier point in the mission

Plasma Rocket Company
Dr Danny Kirmse
danny.kirmse05@gmail.com