Royal visit to ESA’s Wallonia Redu business incubator
The Belgian king and queen last week visited ESA’s Business Incubation Centre Wallonia Redu, where entrepreneurs and start-ups adapt space technology to develop and launch novel products and services for terrestrial markets.
Started in 2012, the ESA business centre stands as an avant-garde platform for entrepreneurs, with its direct fibre data link to ESA’s Redu Centre ground station in the Ardennes region for satellite communications. Thanks to the link, start-ups have unique and easy access to data from many of ESA’s satellites.
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde met several entrepreneurs from the 12 companies fostered at the incubator.
Nicolasde Kerckhove from the start-up Apocalypse Hunters illustrated the company’s location-based satellite navigation gaming platform, which transforms our world into an interactive playground.
Frederick Ronse from Space2M explained how the company uses satnav for remote central monitoring of car fleets. The system developed by the company provides detailed information on car parameters like temperature and pressure, in addition to their exact position, and with alarms for any out-of-limit readings.
Picture from left: Nicolas de Kerckhove (CEO Apocalypse Hunters), Frederick Ronse (CEO Space2M), King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
