New companies for space in Turin
A centre of excellence dedicated to intercepting and growing entrepreneurial projects aimed at space and aerospace. A series of spin-offs that have made these objectives their mission. It is also on this synergetic combination that the Politecnico's action in one of the most important and advanced fields of research is based. On the one hand, ESA BIC Turin, the European Space Agency's incubation programme for space start-ups managed by the I3P Business Incubator in partnership with the University and the LINKS Foundation, and, on the other, actions to exploit the results of academic research through the creation of new innovative enterprises.
ESA BIC
Pointing to the heart of ESA BIC's action is Giuseppe Scellato – president of the Politecnico I3P incubator and professor at the Department of Management and Production Engineering-DIGEP – who explains: 'We work to welcome and evaluate proposals for new companies in the aerospace sector, both of academic origin and those proposed by external entrepreneurs. Our task, as of 2021, is to support the birth and development of high-tech companies in space and aerospace'.
ESA BIC, the ESA Business Incubation Centre Turin, was founded in Turin thanks to a consortium of Politecnico, I3P incubator and Links Foundation, which succeeded in the selection by the European Space Agency for the creation and management of a new centre to support the birth and growth of new Italian startups in the aerospace sector, also in collaboration with ASI. The institutional partners are the Piedmont Region, Compagnia di San Paolo, and the Turin Chamber of Commerce.
Today, ESA BIC collaborates with the main industrial players in the sector and declines its task in a way that Scellato explains as follows: “We select entrepreneurial projects, support the definition of industrial development plans, search for the necessary capital, and put new companies in contact with possible customers and partners in the aerospace sector”. Therefore, the third leg on which ESA BIC rests is made up of financial partners: Italian investment funds specialising in aerospace.
To date, ESA BIC, after just under three years of operation, has reviewed dozens of applications and brought 25 companies into the incubation process, which have already raised over EUR 10 million in investment - another EUR 25 million or so is under negotiation.
The companies that have emerged are 70% involved in what is known as the hub stream segment, i.e. the development of technological components that will go into space – satellites, on-board software, control systems; the remaining 30% work in the down stream segment, which involves companies that use satellite-derived data to develop terrestrial applications for precision agriculture, mobility, telecommunications, land control, and environmental monitoring. Many of these companies are developing solutions of a dual nature, i.e. valid in the aerospace world as well as in other sectors. In this sense, for example, are the researches of those dealing with newly developed batteries, which will find their first application in aerospace but also in electric mobility. Other companies are developing suits for astronauts whose solutions can also be applied in areas related to rehabilitation.
Scellato points out: “The programme includes calls every four months to access our services, but it is always possible to contact us.It is also important to clarify a fundamental message: aerospace is one of the fastest-growing sectors on a global scale and offers significant opportunities for different types of companies. For this reason, we are open to all solicitations that may arrive from the territory, both from new entrepreneurs and from those who are already present in other sectors and have the intention of differentiating their activity or reconverting it based on their technical knowledge”.
ESA BIC's activities and services are presented on the Politecnico's stand at the IAC - International Astronautical Congress in Milan.
Space spin-off
New companies working in this area - born on the basis of research results and created by academic staff and students - are a fundamental part of the Politecnico's Third Mission strategy, but they also play a significant role in high-tech sectors such as space. More generally, these spin-offs are important examples of the university's ability to combine teaching, research and production.
Four spin-offs from the University are being presented at IAC these days, also on the Politecnico stand.
Deplotic
Deplotic is a spin-off that aims to design and produce deployable robots capable of meeting certain constraints for sustainability in space: IDRA is an example of this, an inflatable, deployable robotic arm made with inflatable links and electrically driven rigid joints. Once ‘deployed’, i.e. opened for use, IDRA is able to reach every part of the satellite thanks to its large working space. With IDRA, Deplotic is able to provide a range of services such as self-maintenance of satellites, maintenance of medium-heavy satellites, rapid response to unexpected failures, inspection, repair and updating of satellites.
Evolunar
Since 2020, the Evolunar team has been working on LuNaDrone (Lunar Nano Drone), a small spacecraft capable of autonomously flying on the lunar surface. The large mobility capabilities of this vehicle allow it to offer a whole range of post-landing services: from site exploration operations to last-mile delivery of customer payloads. Evolunar engineers explain how LuNaDrone can transport payloads from the initial landing site to more valuable locations, perform exploration flights to identify resources to be mined and collect critical data for efficient mission planning, identify potential hazards, and locate the most promising sites that maximise commercial and scientific returns for the customer.
Oris
Oris is the spin-off of Politecnico dedicated to the design and implementation of wireless energy transmission systems for supply services in space, and therefore its mission is to identify the best energy solutions for the development of lunar infrastructure. The system devised by Oris is capable of transmitting energy to any point on the lunar surface using wireless technology. In addition to uses on the moon, the wireless energy transmission devised by Oris can also be used to improve the energy availability of satellites for recharging, significantly improving their operational efficiency and extending their lifespan.
MESPAC
Measuring and mapping wind or wave patterns to produce energy with greater efficiency and continuity. This is the goal of MESPAC, a spin-off from a feasibility study by the European Space Agency (ESA). Today, MESPAC provides the opportunity to use data from earth observation satellites applied to the marine energy sector, in particular for the production of energy from wind or waves. The work of MESPAC serves to better understand, and more accurately, the real susceptibility of marine areas from the point of view of installations for the production of energy from wind or other sources.
