Fraunhofer Space Community Workshop

Fraunhofer Space Community Workshop

In cooperation with Fraunhofer AVIATION & SPACE, the EEN is organizing an international technology workshop for start-ups and young companies in the context of Space Tech Expo 2022 in Bremen, Germany.

Under the title "Fraunhofer Space Community Workshop ", the workshop aims to identify the technology needs ("Technology Gaps") of start-ups and SMEs, and the technical hurdles on the path to market maturity of their products and services. The goal is to foster networking with the Fraunhofer institutes and, ideally, to collaborate on project ideas and submit applications to relevant funding programs (e.g. Innospace Masters, ESA/DLR, Horizon Europe, etc.)

Time: Monday, 14 November 2022, 12:00 p.m. light lunch
1:00 p.m to 4:00 p.m. workshop, followed by networking
Venue: EcoMaT, Cornelius-Edzard-Straße 15, 28199 Bremen, Germany.

The workshop will take place the day before the opening of Space Tech Expo 2022, allowing start-ups to combine their visit to the trade fair with participation in the workshop. After the workshop, an in-depth exchange on project ideas can take place during the trade fair.

Fraunhofer AVIATION & SPACE is an association of 27 institutes of the Fraunhofer society that conduct applied research in the field of aerospace. The Fraunhofer Society has set itself the task of supporting the commercial use of new technologies. This is done by providing companies with the necessary expertise and infrastructure required to develop such technologies to market maturity.

The workshop will consist of both general sessions, and parallel sessions covering several key topics. The topics will be based on the needs of the participating start-ups. The following selection represents some of the possible topics:

• AI for Space (e.g., dealing with Big Data, reducing and/or pre-selecting data in orbit through pattern recognition, machine learning).
• Autonomy/robotics (e.g., in/on-board service, active space debris removal, autonomous driving on celestial bodies)
• Sustainability (e.g., "green" materials and fuels, electric propulsion, lightweight components, reusability)
• Use of satellite data (e.g., precision agriculture, climate monitoring, pollution, oceans, fisheries, transportation, etc.)
• In situ resource utilization (ISRU) (collection, processing, storage, and use of materials found or produced on other astronomical objects that replace materials that would otherwise have to be brought from Earth).
• Enabling Technologies (for Space/Design)

These merely represent possible topics and have not yet been determined. Rather, start-ups should be given the freedom to contribute their own ideas, suggestions, and needs.

During the workshop, participating companies should briefly present their technological challenges in the context of an elevator pitch and, if possible, also identify suitable funding programs.

Target group: Participation is possible not just for Space start-ups, but also companies from other industries who consider their products or services applicable in the space sector, and who would like to present their technical challenges. All companies should have a product or service that is not yet ready for the market (usually TRL < 3). The goal of a cooperation with Fraunhofer should be to develop the solution up to TRL 7 or 8.

The involvement of different Fraunhofer institutes will be arranged according to the expressed thematic interests.

It is important that interested start-ups contact the event organizers as early as possible, so that desired topics for the workshop can be identified in good time.

Registration: To register and identify the desired topics, participants are asked to submit the necessary information via the following link by October 4, 2022: https://newsletter.fraunhofer.de/-survey2/15168/1/sBZM2

A "classic" B2B matchmaking during the Space Tech Expo will be published in due time.