25 July 2019 was a record-breaking day. It was the hottest day ever recorded in Belgium, home to SME ESNAH, creator of the SkyLiberty flight navigation service. It was also the busiest flying day ever around the globe, with more than 230,000 aircraft in the sky.
The increasing volume of air traffic poses a number of problems, both in the air and on the ground. The increased risk of in-air collisions results in higher-pressure on-air traffic controllers and more complex and time-pressured operations on the ground for airport operators, aviation companies and freight and cargo operators. For safety and operational effectiveness, all stakeholders need to talk to each other in as close to real time as possible, and have all the information they need to take the right action.
Yet this is far from the case everywhere in aviation, including flight schools, aircraft rental entities and special operations companies. The same applies to the maritime field.
Recognising the need to make accurate data accessible in an efficient, reliable and real-time way, ESNAH developed the SkyLiberty service. This relies on an electronic device – the SkyLink – to allow users to access all relevant information, regardless of their geographical location.
The innovation is SkyLiberty's ability to capture a range of relevant data via a set of sensors – including altitude, position, speed, acceleration, engine data and environmental data – transfer it securely and turn it into useful information for better decision-making. The service also allows the bidirectional exchange of messages between the ground and the aircraft.
The SkyLink electronic box can connect any type of vehicle using either cellular or satellite phone communications, depending on what is available. This ensures seamless connectivity, no matter how high the aircraft is or its geographical position. The service uses GNSS data for aircraft tracking and the Iridium satellite communications system when cellular services are out of range.
After having performed an extensive flight test campaign in May 2019, ESA and ESNAH completed the Site Acceptance Test (SAT) project milestone in Italy with a DA40 light aircraft between 20 and 24 January 2020. The purpose was to fully validate to users and prospective customers the final version of the SkyLiberty tracking service, augmented by an innovative navigator solution developed by ESNAH.
During the different challenging legs of the flight, the crew and ESNAH staff on the ground, along with prospective customers, monitored the flight in real time on a dynamic map (live.skyliberty.com) and were able to exchange messages with the crew via the SkyLink system.
Stefano Dal Mas, Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation manager at Italian helicopter operator Elifriulia, commented: “The tracking of helicopter flights adds value to air operations but is also often requested for contractual requirements. The SkyLink system is an efficient tool, both for monitoring operations and for improving student pilots. The use of the GSM cellular link with the automatic switch to Iridium satellite communications is an important feature of SkyLink that will save users money”.
“Overall, the ESNAH system offers good value in terms of quality and cost, benefitting from the fact that the ESNAH developers have direct experience in aviation. The equipment features, together with the customer-oriented approach of ESNAH, indicates a promising future for the system in aircraft operations.”
The SAT project milestone also presented the opportunity for ESNAH to deliver and install the SkyLiberty service at the premises of its first commercial customer, and train the team on how to exploit SkyLiberty to facilitate their operations.
The validation trial campaign provided confirmation that SkyLiberty fully meets the needs of users and is effective. Sonaca, a Belgian aircraft manufacturer, has announced it will equip all of its new aircraft – the Sonaca 200 – with the SkyLiberty solution.
ENSAH is now in the process of getting the SkyLink solution certified by aviation authorities.
“We’re very proud that our small but growing company has managed to design and bring such an innovative service to the aviation market,” commented Nicolas Hanse, ESNAH’s CEO.
“The delivery of our first commercial product to a search and rescue organisation while still in the project phase is fantastically rewarding and a sign of trust from the market.”
The success of the validation campaign has extended further than the aviation sector, with a number of boat operators expressing their interest. “Throughout the development of SkyLiberty, we had to adapt to market needs. We realised that our products were opening doors for us to domains that we had not initially thought of, such as the air cargo segment, which seems very promising.”
From the initial incubation of the SME at the Belgian ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC), ESNAH has grown from a three-person company to employing 12 people, with further expansion planned. To achieve this, ESNAH received support from ESA Space Solutions to run a Demonstration project and collect evidence that the space components of the service delivered added value and differentiation compared with the competition.
Arnaud Runge, SkyLiberty project manager at ESA, who is also a professional pilot, added: “The integration of space assets, such as GNSS data and communications via satellite, have boosted the capabilities of this service. This opens a new world of opportunities for whoever needs to track and interact with an aircraft, a boat or any other vehicle for effective, safe operational purposes. SkyLiberty provides yet more evidence of the power of space data and services in our daily lives.
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 Transfer Brokers, and the 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.
Keen cyclists Tom Putnam and Mark Jenner founded Beeline in 2015 with the aim of producing an alternative routing service to Google Maps, an app which is designed primarily for car navigation. They already have two navigation devices on the market, Velo and Moto.
With the support of ESA Business Applications under the ESA Space Solutions umbrella, Beeline is now working on an improved routing system to provide people with a better cycling experience, especially in urban areas.
The new app uses GPS to track smartphone location, but also considers sources such as road elevation maps derived from Earth observing satellites, as well as data on cycle infrastructure, accident hotspots and much more.
It combines this with crowdsourced information provided through in-ride feedback from cyclists and then uses an algorithm to determine the most pleasant way of getting from A to B.
This means the system can learn about the preferences of individual cyclists, so route suggestions can be tailored to their skill and experience level.
By using crowdsourced information, the suitability of routes can also be continually updated as changes occur; for example, in response to new pop-up cycle infrastructure being installed in many cities.
The Bluetooth-linked device then displays information including journey progress, direction prompts, and speed, allowing the cyclist to focus on the road and navigate simultaneously.
As well as individual cyclists, the app will be used by delivery companies to search for faster, safer routes, and bike share companies to suggest pleasant journeys to their customers.
“As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, people are being encouraged to cycle rather than use crowded public transport. This means in the near future there will be a large increase of new and inexperienced cyclists on the road, especially in cities,” says Tom.
“Although the app is aimed at all experience levels, we are working hard to ensure safer and more pleasant routes are suggested to new cyclists, giving them the confidence to explore using their new mode of transport.”
“Cycling has many benefits for society and our health, and, given the current guidelines put in place to reduce coronavirus transmission, these are now even more important,” says Fausto Vieira, ESA Space Applications Engineer and Technical Officer of the Beeline project.
“ESA is thrilled to support the development of this Beeline technology, which has been demonstrated to provide people with an improved cycling experience when compared to well-known mapping platforms.”
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 Transfer Brokers, and the 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.
Marine litter is a global issue, impacting seas and freshwater systems. Plastics constitute the majority of marine litter (OSPAR commission) and scientists predict that plastic waste in the ocean will amount to 250 million tons by 2025 (J. R. Jambeck et al., Science).
There are 121 million people living with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the US and 49 million in the EU. Congestive heart failure (CHF), which may be caused by coronary artery disease, hypertension or valvular heart disease, among others, is the most common end stage of CVD and represents up to 3% of total healthcare expenditure. Yet currently, patients may only be monitored in hospital a few times a year and in between are left uncertain and anxious.
What if these patients could easily perform a cardiac function test at home in only two minutes, saving time travelling to the hospital and receiving more frequent analysis? That is the aim of HeartKinetics, which has designed the Kinocardiograph (Kino) to fill this gap.
There are two Kino prototypes. One is an app that measures myocardial activity through a smartphone’s own motion sensors. HeartKinetics aims to have this available in the Apple and Android stores in July. The second is a medical device consisting of two units, one of which is placed on the chest and the other on the lower back. After an initial calibration by a cardiologist, patients can take measurements at home in under 45 seconds and transmit them for diagnosis via a smartphone or tablet. This provides accurate assessment of both the mechanical and electrical myocardial functions, together with hemodynamic parameters.
The majority of hospital admissions for CHF are re-admissions. Approximately 22% of people discharged from hospital with heart failure are readmitted within 30 days. As a consequence of damage to the heart, the heart loses its ability to pump effectively.
Evaluating the prognosis of heart failure usually requires trained healthcare professionals and costly equipment. Today, more than ever, we need new ways to monitor patients remotely when they are discharged from the hospital, in particular providing telemonitoring of cardiac mechanical and electrical function.
Many everyday products have been inspired by R&D innovations from space agencies around the world, with space spin-offs particularly prevalent in the health and medicine sector. HeartKinetics has developed its Kino solution using over 10 years of research on astronaut cardiac function and its deconditioning in microgravity.
Far away from a trained cardiologist, astronauts require automated and easy-to-operate tools that provide an accurate overview of their cardiac function. For the cardiologist, it is essential to access assessments of both the heart’s electrical/rhythm function, which is typically done with an electrocardiogram (ECG), and the mechanical function, which usually done with echocardiography. Although there are many ECG wearables, there is no such solution for the mechanical function assessment of the heart. The Kino was developed to fill this gap and HeartKinetics is now incubated at ESA BIC Belgium to further develop its strategy to bring the Kino to market.
The Kino is a non-invasive telemonitoring solution based on a calibrated measurement of the kinetic energy of the cardiac contraction in linear and angular dimensions. The Kino smartphone solution uses the smartphone’s accelerometers and gyroscopes sensors which, when placed on the chest, can record myocardial contraction efforts and rhythm. The Kinocardiograph portable device allows both local and global mechanical cardiac activity assessment, together with a regular ECG.
Kino shares information about a patient’s cardiac health status with all members of the multidisciplinary medical team to optimise follow-up, especially after worsening heart failure.
The Kinocardiograph device has already been used in clinical trials in the Netherlands and Belgium. Now, in response to the new challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, HeartKinetics has accelerated its development plan, including implementing essential security technology from Swiss company PrYv to ensure data privacy and security. A pilot study will start in July 2020, with over 500 patients in Belgium and the Netherlands using the smartphone app to help healthcare teams maintain their regular care offering in the difficult context of lockdown, while clinical teams will trial the medical device prototype at cardio consultations.
In 2017, HeartKinetics won the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) Inventor Award, with other recognition including selection for the Alpha programme at WebSummit 2019. Organisations including YesDok, Tessan, Bodyo, Altericare and Doctoranytime have all expressed an interest in Kino as a solution that could revolutionise cardiac function telediagnostics.
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.
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