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

Micro G Scope (MGS) is an innovative approach to the problem of biological testing in space, using an innovative fluorescence contact CMOS microscope and special growing chamber in a CubeSat. The technical requirements for space biology are enormous, and the effort to reduce the cost while maintaining precision and safety is huge. The project’s goal is to solve the problem of the accessibility
(and cost) of biological tests in space by providing not only an instrument for biological experiments, but a whole service for pharma and bio-tech companies that will include: experiment design, cell preparation microscale fluorescence microscope, and calibration chamber. In addition, the microlaboratory could be easily modified to accommodate alternative experiments such as seed and spore germination, embryology studies, and the production of nutrients in space, among others. Micro G Scope‘s first design is aimed at testing cancer drugs in space to extract information on whether these drugs work under reduced gravity conditions. The project is currently at SRR level (System Requirements Review) through PDR (Preliminary Design Review).

Benefits:

• New cell chamber and microscope design for biological experiments in space based on a lensless design with no moving parts and the size of a credit card
• Reduced cost and time to perform the experiments
• New full service for the pharma industry where experiment preparation, mission accomplishments, and data review are transparent for the client

The main stakeholder in the commercial space industry are looking for ways to deploy, operate and maintain large satellite constellations at low cost. Projections indicate that in the next decade, the number of satellites in Earth‘s orbit will increase from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands. Managing such a large number of satellites manually with conventional control centres and workers will be very difficult and expensive, which is why operators and space agencies are looking for ways to automate their constellation management. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms can provide support. Avoiding collisions with space debris, setting up and maintaining communication networks, monitoring the condition of the satellites and their operating routines are just some of the tasks that StellAI Space intends to solve with AI. The company‘s solution will use data from hundreds of satellites forming existing constellations in orbit as input for machine learning algorithms. The resulting model will be used to build a scale-up simulation with hundreds of thousands of satellites and leverage AI to achieve constellation autonomy.

Benefits:

• Mega-constellation management
• Automation of satellite maintenance
• Minimises manpower and ground infrastructure
• Long-term sustainability of space activities

The demand for high-capacity batteries in the space industry has significantly increased and battery capacity is still insufficient in terms of mobility and safety. AC Biode Ltd. is developing the first-ever standalone battery based on alternating current (AC). Biode features the characteristics of both anodes and cathodes. Thanks to a special electric circuit also found in particle accelerators, the system offers more V/Ah flexibility, requires 30% less space, and is safer than every type of regular direct-current (DC) battery. Conventional batteries use DC, which leads to power loss when electricity is converted from AC to DC. AC Biode Ltd. will utilise existing materials and battery production lines to penetrate the market faster than competitors that use new materials or types. Applications are possible in space and in connection with drones, electric vehicles and scooters, and energy storage.

Benefits:

• Battery is up to 30% more compact and reduces conversion losses
• Uses existing materials/battery production lines
• Safer than conventional Li-ion batteries
• Lower electrical resistance (safer/longer-lasting)