Paris Space Week took place virtually for the first time this month. The exhibition provided a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on European space-related start-ups via the ESA BIC Challenge and to present the ESA Space Solutions network.

ESA BIC Nord France, in partnership with ESA Space Solutions, organised the ESA BIC Challenge, which took place on 9 March. This gave a chance for space-based start-ups to pitch to a jury made up of representatives from ESA Space Solutions, ESA Phi-Lab, ESA BIC Bavaria and ASTech Paris Region. Ten European start-ups presented their solutions in front of the jury and trade participants attending the show, providing the start-ups with an ideal opportunity to gain some visibility. 

The jury decided to award first place to the ESA BIC Estonia incubatee Precision Navigation Systems. CEO Simon Litvinov and his start-up seduced the jury on three main criteria: the originality of the innovation, the business opportunities and the presentation. Precision Navigation Systems is building sustainable global navigation satellite system (GNSS) infrastructure and correction services. Its main product, Stargate RTK, provides GNSS corrections for robotics, drones and IoT applications.

Stargate RTK aggregates multiple GNSS public and commercial correction services and provides access to them through a single interface. In addition, Stargate RTK provides value-added data tailoring services for innovative market applications such as unconventional protocols and data format support, and GNSS observation upsampling.

The benefits of ESA BIC incubation

Precision Navigation Systems have benefited from incubation at ESA BIC Estonia as it enabled the start-up to grow the business while it developed the program. “During the ESA BIC Estonia incubation, we came a long way and even had to pivot our business model at one point. ESA BIC gave us the support we needed, providing credibility, funding and access to mentors and the ESA network,” says Simon Litvinov, CEO of Precision Navigation Systems. 

Being announced as the ESA BIC Challenge 2021 winner will strengthen the Estonian start-up’s position in the space sector. “Paris Space Week, and especially the ESA BIC Challenge, brought us recognition, together with a positive emotional boost and the PR we need during our intensive sales activities,” adds Simon Litvinov. 

Presenting the ESA Space Solutions Network

Paris Space Week also provided an opportunity to present the world’s largest ecosystem for space-related start-ups, which is led by ESA. ESA BIC Nord France organised a 45-minute session dedicated to displaying the role of ESA in space entrepreneurship, with a focus on what ESA Space Solutions offers. Three ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) – ESA BIC Bavaria, ESA BIC Northern Germany and ESA BIC Nord France – illustrated the strength of this innovative space ecosystem by explaining how they support start-ups in their region. Finally, the Earth observation department of ESA, ESA Phi-Lab, highlighted how it accelerates the business of start-ups using Earth observation data. 

ABOUT ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS

ESA Space Solutions is the go-to-place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. Our programme is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from 50KEuro to 2MEuro and supports everything from space technology transfer, early-stage incubation programs, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects. 

Public Safety Communication Europe (PSCE) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) to support the utilisation of satellite applications for Public Safety.

ESA and PSCE will work together under the new MoI towards establishing interoperable public safety communications systems.

The MoI will support the emergence of space-based applications in the Public Safety domain such as public safety services relying on secure mobile broadband communication solutions. These include applications within disaster preparedness, response and resilience, situational awareness, assessments of damages, navigation-based services for tracking and coordinating rescue forces on-site and for emergency vehicles.

"ESA Space Solutions and the 4S Strategic Programme Line will support through this agreement the emergence of solutions making use of secure satellite communications for institutional Public Safety user communities. This can be achieved as of today through existing satellite telecommunications infrastructures. In the future it will be possible to make use of new and innovative infrastructures with enhanced capabilities. Early pilots and demonstrations will showcase the unique benefits granted by satellites to the user communities and early adopters", says Rita Rinaldo, ESA

"The cooperation with ESA will help to explore complementary solutions that will contribute to cover capability gaps and needs for public safety. It is of extreme importance to improve public safety communication systems with cutting-edge and rapidly deployable solutions that will facilitate PPDR missions", explains Marie-Christine Bonnamour, PSCE.

The cooperation between ESA and PSCE will be activated as a first step through PSCE participation in the ongoing user studies on "Satellite Applications for Public Safety".

PSCE will contribute to the identification of the needs of public safety stakeholders such as emergency services, fire brigades and law enforcement.

About PSCE

The purpose of Public Safety Communication Europe forum is to foster excellence in the development and use of public safety communication and information management systems and to support public safety organizations (users), industry and research in exchanging on challenges, best practices, in developing roadmaps as well as in sharing knowledge from research activities.

Our organization aims to innovate in the field of public safety, improving the safety of European citizens as well as responders In Europe and in the rest of the world. Our expertise has positioned PSCE as a key enabler for identifying capability gaps, gathering practitioners’ requirements and facilitating solutions developed by industry as well as research and perfectly adapted to the needs.

For more information, please visit www.psc-europe.eu

About ESA and the Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate

The European Space Agency is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. ESA is an international organisation with 22 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

The Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate (TIA) supports innovation to boost the competitiveness of European industry in the global space market. This involves a wide range of activities, from space-based technology, systems, product for telecommunications development to the down-to-Earth application of space-based services. It also calls for engagement with a wide range of industrial, academic and institutional partners.

TIA’s ESA Space Solutions initiative and 4S Strategic Programme lines are combining their efforts to support European and Canadian industry advancing the utilisation of space assets like telecommunications. The 4S Strategic Programme Line targets the “Space Systems for Safety and Security” and supports security applications of space related services and products.  

ESA Space Solutions is the go-to-place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. Our programme is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from 50KEuro to 2MEuro and supports everything from space technology transfer, early-stage incubation programs, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects.

In the second part of our celebration of female entrepreneurs in the month of International Women’s Day, we introduce you to three additional women who have founded businesses incubated at the ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) in Germany. From medical devices and flow management solutions to secure transactions, their innovations are making a real difference. Read about four further female entrepreneurs from the ESA Space Solutions network in Germany here.

Kumovis

Kumovis focuses on 3D printing medical devices with high-performance and biodegradable polymers. For example, its 3D-printing technology allows hospitals and medtech manufacturers to economically 3D print individualised implants and small or industrial batches of surgical instruments. 

Miriam Haerst is the co-CEO and co-founder of Kumovis. “Our main challenge was to develop a market-ready product with limited resources and to showcase a successful approach. By focusing on the lessons learned instead of failures, the team kept improving and launched the 3D-printing system Kumovis R1 in 2019”, says Miriam Haerst.

Vectoflow

Using 3D printing combined with smart software solutions, Vectoflow develops customised flow measurement systems that match perfectly to the customer’s application and deliver reliable results even under harsh and difficult conditions. Katharina Kreitz is the Co-founder of Vectoflow, which is located in the ESA BIC in Oberpfaffenhofen, close to the company’s supersonic wind tunnel. “For predominantly hardware companies, cash positivity is a challenge. However, except for a small seed funding round, the company is completely bootstrapped and has been cash positive since our second year. It was, and still is, a big challenge to grow without venture capital money, but we’ve proved it can be done”, shares Katharina Kreitz.

Blackpin 

Blackpin has developed a secure digital transaction platform for European organisations, based on mobile messaging under very high German GDPR security standards. Its CEO and Founder Sandra Jörg previously worked as a strategic consultant and coach, but had no network or business contacts when she arrived in Southern Germany. Nevertheless, after being hosted at ESA BIC IHK Reutlingen, the company was nicknamed “the flagship start-up of Baden Württemberg” at the Stuttgart Security Congress by Thomas Strobel, German Minister for Digitalisation. 

The challenge that Sandra faced was to put together a good team in a very short time, with the same values that she lived by and who covered all the important areas of expertise. She was looking for people with international know-how, innovative strength, speed, high motivation and commitment. Finding such a team was not easy, especially in some regions. However, Sandra proved that if you are well supported, it is possible. Today, Blackpin’s international team has 35 employees.

Conclusion 

We applaud these women for their innovation and the continuing growth of their companies. If you are an entrepreneur with a great idea using space assets, get in touch to find out how ESA Space Solutions can help you.

ABOUT ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS

ESA Space Solutions is the go-to-place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. Our programme is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from 50KEuro to 2MEuro and supports everything from space technology transfer, early-stage incubation programs, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects. 

International Women’s Day has been celebrated all over the world this month and we did not want to miss the chance to shine a light on the incredible women who are thriving in the space entrepreneurship arena. Here are some of the female founders of businesses incubated at the ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) in Germany, to give you a flavour of the many women-led start-ups founded as part of the ESA Space Solutions Network. Prepare to be inspired! 

Astronautin

Astronautin GmbH is a commercial human spaceflight company located in Bremen as part of ESA BIC Northern Germany. Based on its vision to bring the first German woman into space, Astronautin’s space portfolio focusses on services for women, offering space training to the public, corporations and organisations. Its leadership training courses are based on elements from astronaut training, while its empowerment workshops, including rocket science and hands-on space experience, are used to bring women to the top, not only in space but also in society and economy.

Claudia Kessler, Astronautin’s CEO said, “The greatest challenge we had to overcome was – and still is – starting a business based on personal experiences at the beginning of the COVID crisis. We are still in the process of overcoming this by offering online formats like bar camps, deep dives and online trainings combined with an interactive experience in the form of our ‘space experience’ packages, which are mailed to participants before the training sessions.”

Planblue

Planblue develops ‘underwater satellites’ that are being used to build up a global seafloor database to enable the sustainable use and conservation of our ocean’s resources, while fostering the Blue Economy. Hannah Brocke, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO), has been working on commercial solutions to protect the oceans, since 2013. She is actively engaging with well-known company incubators, including continuous engagement with ESA BIC Northern Germany.

She describes her greatest challenge as twofold: “On the one hand I need to fully understand our company’s current and future needs, and on the other hand I need to match these needs at the right time to team building, infrastructure, strategic partners and funds. I can remember one particular moment when we urgently needed access to a testing facility, which we could not afford at that time. I solved this issue by connecting the right partners and acquiring the necessary public funds.” 

Valispace

Valispace is a start-up incubated at ESA BIC Northern Germany, where the team is developing a browser-based collaboration platform for engineers who are building complex hardware, such as satellites, rockets or fusion reactors. Co-founder and COO Louise Lindblad has a background in satellite systems engineering and worked across different space organisations and companies.

In the beginning, one of Valispace’s biggest challenges was to convince big enterprise customers to buy software for their core engineering activities from a small start-up team. Louise’s team persuaded them by suggesting new ideas for how to solve problems, as well as with their level of expertise. “As we have grown the team from 3 to 30 people, we have matured as a company and have faced other challenges inherent to starting a company, like setting up internal processes, hiring the best talent and fundraising”, explains Louise Lindblad. 

Ajuma 

Ajuma developed the UV-Bodyguard, a wearable device that combines UV measurement and satellite data to help people avoid sunburn, reduce their risk of developing skin cancer and monitor vitamin D levels. Founder Annette Barth MBA is a psychologist with international experience in sales, innovation and product management and the company is supported by ESA BIC Bavaria.

On its journey to bring the UV-Bodyguard to market, Ajuma’s main difficulty was gaining enough visibility to attract its first paying customers, which is crucial to short-term financing and long-term commercial success. “The way we solved it was reaching out to people – participating in different competitions like the Copernicus Masters, German Aerospace Center’s Health, Energy and Environment Challenge [which Ajuma won in 2019] and the international sports trade fair ISPO Brandnew Award in Munich, which we won as one of 10 start-ups in 2021. These competitions helped us to gain huge media coverage and get known by a wider audience within Germany”, says Annete Barth.

Find out more 

These amazing women deserve great credit for the creation and growth of their companies. At ESA Space Solutions, we are also proud of the work that the ESA BICs did to support them on their journeys, including establishing their online presence and building their online marketing funnels, growing their networks and getting support from project managers and mentors. You can read about other female founders supported by ESA Space Solutions here.

And if you are an entrepreneur with a great idea for a product or service that uses space assets in any way, find out how ESA Space Solutions and the ESA BIC network across ESA Member States can support you.

ABOUT ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS

ESA Space Solutions is the go-to-place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. Our programme is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from 50KEuro to 2MEuro and supports everything from space technology transfer, early-stage incubation programs, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects.