EcoOrbit: Sustainable Satellite Solutions

EcoOrbit: Sustainable Satellite Solutions

Satellites generate huge amounts of data every day, and traditional methods of data analysis are struggling to keep up. By compressing and deploying AI models on satellites, data processing could be performed on board. This would drastically reduce the latency associated with downloading and analysing images at ground stations. To overcome this challenge, NinjaLABO introduces a new technology: TinyML as-a-Service (TinyMLaaS). TinyMLaaS integrates state-of-the-art edge AI solutions into satellite systems to process data directly on board, reducing the latency of communication back to the ground station and improving real-time decision making.

Until now, satellite manufacturers have mostly opted to develop the systems for such edge AI solutions themselves. However, this approach often results in unnecessarily slow development processes. NinjaLABO specialises in the core components of Edge AI frameworks, enabling satellite manufacturers to focus on improving their business value to customers, significantly reduce R&D costs and achieve faster time-to-market.

Benefits:

  • Real-time performance: local execution of inference without cloud computing delays for immediate data analysis
  • Low power consumption: optimised for low-power devices such as microcontrollers, ideal for battery-powered or low-power systems
  • Improved privacy: sensitive information is not sent to centralised servers
  • Improved cost efficiency: minimises the need for expensive, power-hungry hardware for lower operating costs
  • Expanded applications: enables intelligent functions in devices that were previously unsuitable due to size, cost or power constraints

NinjaLABO
Hiroshi Doyu
hiroshi.doyu@ninjalabo.ai

SPHERICAL: High-Performance Satellite Power Systems Powered by Agile Semiconductor Design

SPHERICAL: High-Performance Satellite Power Systems Powered by Agile Semiconductor Design

The reliability of satellite components is critical: one third of small satellites fail prematurely, resulting in significant economic losses and increased space debris.

SPHERICAL introduces a breakthrough approach to satellite power systems. It is based on a proprietary agile semiconductor engine, software tool and supply chain. The company’s approach significantly improves the reliability and performance of Power Control and Distribution Units (PCDUs) by designing microchips specifically for satellite applications in-house and manufacturing them in Europe. As the company expands, it aims to cover a wider range of satellite subsystems and eventually offer a complete avionics module for medium satellites.

As well as revolutionising satellite subsystem technology, SPHERICAL aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on non-European sources of semiconductors, thereby strengthening its strategic autonomy in the aerospace sector. The company’s technology is capable of setting new industry standards for in-space power systems, improving the longevity, robustness and economics of satellite missions.

Benefits:

  • A PCDU subsystem that is 5x smaller, more affordable and better suited for mass-production compared to conventional power systems, with the added benefit of being software configurable and radiation tolerant for different orbital environments (LEO, MEO, GEO).
  • The advanced PCDU promises shorter integration times for satellite systems – days instead of months – and reduces one-off development costs by over €200,000.
  • The innovative design allows for rapid configuration changes and system updates via software – a capability not currently available in the market.
  • SPHERICAL is at the forefront of strengthening European sovereignty in space while addressing the global challenge of microchip dependency.

Spherical Systems B.V.
Thomas Campbell Parry
t.parry@spherical-systems.com

VitalFusion: Blending Health and Climate Data

VitalFusion: Blending Health and Climate Data

This platform allows businesses and public bodies to deliver targeted, contextualised health interventions without the need for extensive manual monitoring. Using data from the EU Copernicus program for Earth Observation, the solution includes tools for air quality monitoring, workspace optimisation, heat stress management and predictive health analytics to proactively protect the workforce, ensure regulatory compliance and improve productivity and well-being.

For businesses, particularly in occupational health, the technology provides a detailed understanding of workplace health dynamics. It identifies health risks and implements tailored interventions to improve health outcomes, productivity, absenteeism and employee satisfaction.

Public bodies benefit from precise targeting of interventions, improved resource allocation and rapid response to health threats. This approach minimises the impact of environmental hazards and ensures relevant interventions, leading to a resilient public health infrastructure, improved community wellbeing and reduced healthcare costs.

Benefits:

  • Proactive workforce protection, increased employee satisfaction and reduced absenteeism
  • Detailed understanding of workplace health dynamics
  • Identification of health risks and tailored occupational health interventions

Panda Insight
Maximilian Weiß
maximilian.weiss@panda-insight.com

Harnessing Animals’ Intelligence from Space

Harnessing Animals’ Intelligence from Space

Over millennia, animals have adapted their behaviour to Earth’s unique range of ecosystems and developed advanced senses and instincts as a result. By tracking animal movements and activity patterns through a constellation of satellites, TALOS aims to provide insights into animal behaviour to complement Earth observation data for various markets.

The solution includes multiple cubesats with IoT payloads connected to lightweight tags attached to a variety of animals. The collected data includes location, altitude, acceleration, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure, providing valuable information with broad applications for understanding the impacts of climate change, tracking biodiversity loss and detecting animal and zoonotic diseases.

Developed and tested as part of the Max Planck Institute’s ICARUS initiative, the project aims to refine the payload technology for compatibility with even smaller cubesats to turn the successful research surrounding the ICARUS initiative into a viable commercial product.

Benefits:

  • Monitoring animal movements and migration patterns from space
  • Bi-directional communication between low-Earth orbit cubesats and miniature, lightweight animal tags
  • Insight into the effects of climate change, tracking of biodiversity loss and detection of animal and zoonotic diseases
  • Applications for wildlife tracking, livestock monitoring, weather information technologies and wildfire detection

TALOS GmbH
Gregor Langer
gregor.langer@talos-space.de 

Biodiversity Monitoring with Satellites and IoT Sensors

Biodiversity Monitoring with Satellites and IoT Sensors

Hula Earth helps companies comply with upcoming EU biodiversity regulations (CSRD and EU Taxonomy) by quantifying the impact of their business activities on biodiversity. Current compliance is hampered by the inability to accurately monitor and assess these impacts. Hula’s solution facilitates impact assessments across supply chains and infrastructure projects, in line with evolving standards, using satellite imagery and proprietary sensor network data.

By combining data from satellites and locally deployed IoT sensors, the solution quantifies both positive and negative environmental changes through a scalable and cost-effective approach. It provides insights into climate resilience, vegetation vigour and biodiversity values, enabling organisations to confidently navigate regulatory requirements.

By committing to sustainability and biodiversity conservation, companies can gain better and more cost-effective access to capital, ensuring compliance and unlocking opportunities for improved financial performance and investment access.

Benefits:

  • Blended approach integrating satellite and proprietary data from IoT sensor network
  • Enables companies to reliably demonstrate positive biodiversity impacts
  • Ensures compliance with upcoming EU biodiversity regulations
  • Enables eligibility for cost-effective access to capital

Hula Earth
Florian Geiser
florian@hula.earth

VibraVoid – Vibration Avoidance with Acoustic Black Holes in Spacecraft

VibraVoid – Vibration Avoidance with Acoustic Black Holes in Spacecraft

In the space industry, random structural vibrations and shock loads pose significant design challenges, often causing fractures in brittle components, joint slippage and failure of sensitive electronics. New countermeasures to control vibrations are therefore essential. This project explores an innovative approach using a phenomenon similar to black holes to reduce vibration in lightweight space structures.

Special structures known as Acoustic Black Holes (ABH) cause sound waves to disappear in narrow regions. Studies show that ABHs can reduce vibrations by 30 dB with a mass saving of 26%. Integrating ABHs into aerospace structures involves creating dents or cross-sectional reductions combined with damping material. ABHs are ideal for lightweight structures and can be applied to satellites, launchers or rovers.

The project aims to develop a technology demonstrator of a space structure with integrated ABHs. Ultimately, the technology will be transferred to other industries, due to ABHs’ wide range of applications.

Benefits:

  • Reduction of random structural vibrations in space structures
  • Lightweight structure with up to 26% mass saving potential
  • Wide range of spin-off transfer applications, e.g. for the automotive industry

VibraVoid
Fraunhofer LBF, OHB Systems AG
Nikolai Kleinfeller
nikolai.kleinfeller@lbf.fraunhofer.de

AGREE – Avoiding Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Rare Earth Element Production by Transferring Space Resource Technology to Earth

AGREE – Avoiding Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Rare Earth Element Production by Transferring Space Resource Technology to Earth

Extracting metals from ores is essential for our technological society, but it requires enormous amounts of energy and is responsible for 40% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Perfluorinated hydrocarbons (PFCs), potent GHGs, are emitted in the production of rare earth metals, which are indispensable for electromobility, magnets and high-performance alloys. Europe currently imports 98% of these metals, posing geopolitical risks.

For the extraction of Oxygen from lunar regolith (“moon dust”), an Airbus led consortium developed ROXY (Regolith to OXYgen and metals conversion), a GHG-free electrolysis process that is ideal for metals with a high affinity for oxygen and hard-to-reduce oxides. AGREE is adapting this process for Earth, focusing on the rare earth elements scandium and neodymium.

The project will optimise key components such as electrodes and demonstrate efficient, PFC-free production of Sc and Nd from their oxides in the laboratory. It will also include the design of future scaled-up facilities and the establishment of industrial partnerships to scale up sustainable production of rare earth elements.

Benefits:

  • Contribution to an independent rare earth metal value chain in Europe
  • Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions for a sustainable rare earth element production
  • Technology transfer of electrolysis technology originally developed to extract oxygen and metals from lunar regolith

AGREE
Fraunhofer IFAM,
TU Bergakademie Freiberg,
Airbus Defence and Space
Dr Georg Pöhle
georg.poehle@ifam-dd.fraunhofer.de

StellarHeal: Wound Healing in Space and on Earth

StellarHeal: Wound Healing in Space and on Earth

StellarHeal tackles the unique challenges of wound healing in space, where weightlessness and radiation affect wound closure, putting astronauts’ health at risk. The solution includes a special silica gel padding, enriched with cryopreserved cells, and a protective gel. The silica gel is resistant to radiation and flexible enough to fit different wounds, with a coating that helps to stop bleeding quickly. The added cells – cryopreserved fibroblasts and macrophages – promote smooth healing and fight infection, making it perfect for space missions.

StellarHeal combines several advanced developments into a novel application. It aims to improve medical practice and the economics of wound care, and has significant potential for future applications both in space and on Earth. The consortium combines expertise in materials science, cryotechnology and biotechnology to develop, deploy and adapt the solution for various medical and biotechnological applications.

Benefits:

  • Enables rapid and improved wound closure in microgravity to prevent wound infection
  • Protects wounds from the adverse effects of radiation exposure
  • Prevents severe wound scarring
  • May address chronic wound healing for patients on Earth

StellarHeal
Fraunhofer ISC, Fraunhofer ITEM, ILK Dresden
Dr Dieter Groneberg
dieter.groneberg@isc.fraunhofer.de