Plug and play your satellite, like a Lego construction
Meet the German ESA BIC start-up company SPiN at the EBAN Annual Congress in Helsinki 3-5 June and learn about their plug and play solution to standardise and simplify satellite manufacturing, to bring down significantly the production lead-time.
Long lead times and high costs are barriers for new projects and innovation. Thales Alenia Space CEO, Jean-Loïc Galle described this pain by saying at the World Satellite Business Week a few years ago, "The (satellites) lead times used to be 36 months. Now customers are asking between 12 and 18 months of lead time of production. We all know it is extremely difficult to build a satellite in 12 months.” According to Galle, meeting such requirements is only possible by using standardized buses and payloads that could be just taken off the shelf.
Hosted at ESA Business Incubation Centre Bavaria start-up SPiN - also named SpinInTech - is developing universal adapters allowing to assemble satellites like Lego.
Their adapter MAGIC (Multipurpose Adapter Genetic Interface Connector) provides a plug and play solution for easy assembling of satellites, with the first MAC61C already available. The company are also going to introduce other adapters to decentralize the satellite into common building blocks.
MA61C connects any satellite’s electronics without user intervention or hardware customization. It is a universal adapter that sits next to the subsystem and automatically connects it to the satellite on-board computer, without user intervention. Its driver recognizes and integrates subsystems software.
This technology allows using off the shelf hardware components for space missions. Units such as star tracker, power distribution and transceiver can be reused from previous mission without the need to customize their interface or software.
SPiN`s MAGIC Multipurpose Generic Interface Connector
EGSE plug and play tool
Easy and quick connectivity tool to any digital subsystem through commonly used space interfaces. It connects to a laptop via USB connection to monitor and command through a friendly graphic user interface.
Intelligent data node
Plug and play remote data node that connects between the satellite onboard computer and subsystem through existing interface. The data nodes allow fast and smart integration, including diagnostic and monitoring functions.
Wireless router
Connects the spacecraft onboard computer to different subsystems through wireless communication. The adapter is equipped with smart sensors for local monitoring.
"Our MA61C adapter addresses the needs to reuse hardware design from previous projects and plug and play integration, removing costs by up to 60% without changing the supply chain," said Ran Qedar, SPiN co-founder and CEO.
"And it is immediately implementable."
Their innovation focus on spinning in technology from other industries into space to make it more affordable. SPiN`s goal is to reduce satellite manufacturing time and costs, simplify the design process and introduce smart technologies into the integration process.
ESA BIC Bavaria boosts the SPiN start-up
SPiN was founded by Ran Qedar, now CEO, Giulia Federico, now COO, and Saish Sridharan, now CTO. Together theu have over 15 years of experience from work in the space industry.
Following the demonstration of their concept in 2016, with the following official presentation at a dedicated event with satellite manufacturers and the University of Bremen ZARM, the three entrepreneurs were accepted at ESA Business Incubation Centre Bavaria to turn their idea into a viable business. The first prototype of their universal adapter MAGIC was presented at the 2018 Toulouse Space Show.
EBAN Annual Conference 2019
Meet the SPiN entrepreneurs at the EBAN Annula Congress 2019 in Helsinki, Finland, 3- 5 June 2019, where they are ready to present and discuss their "plug and play a satellite" solution.
The EBAN Annual Congress is one of Europe’s largest and most international business angel events held annually by EBAN in cooperation with its best members.
After 19 successful editions of the event, the last of which took place in Malaga in 2017 and Sofia in 2018, this year’s edition of the event is coming to Helsinki, Finland on 3-4 June 2019 at Kaapelitehdas (Cable Factory) and will be organized by the Finnish Business Angels Network in collaboration with Arctic15.
The EBAN Helsinki 2019 will be a pool of new ideas and trends, bringing together the world’s most eminent business angels, entrepreneurs and opinion makers, and enabling networking and deal making with experts in the field.
Get the EBAN Annual Conference 2019 Agenda here.
ESA Business Applications and Space Solutions
ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions programme has a network of 20 ESA Business Incubation Centres, 15 ESA Innovation Partners and 14 ESA Ambassadors throughout Europe. It co-funds projects and start-ups, while also offering technical and business support to companies that seek to deliver rapid innovation and to raise private investment.
Overall ESA spends €400 million a year on strengthening the competitiveness of European and Canadian companies in the global markets for both satellite communications andr downstream applications.
The 20 ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) form the largest ecosystem in the world for space-related entrepreneurship and have fostered over 700 start-ups throughout Europe. Spread across some 60 cities in 17 countries, more than 300 start-ups are currently under the two-year business incubation development booster programme, with another 180 joining yearly.
