Speakers
Description
In recent years, the focus of the space industry has experienced a trend shift towards space sustainability. However, while many challenges have been identified, there is still a clear lack of commercially viable solutions. To address this issue, our student team “PeriSpace” is participating in the Green Space Challenge of the ESA Business Incubation Center in Reutlingen, aiming to develop a startup in the field of space sustainability.
To determine the best solution to pursue, we utilized the design thinking method. This approach allows us to identify the concrete issues, needs, and pain points of the space industry related to space sustainability, but it also identifies opportunities for developing a viable business model. Following this method, we conducted numerous interviews with experts from the space industry, including engineers, insurance companies, space lawyers, governmental agencies, and more.
Based on the results of these interviews, we have identified a key problem: A clear lack of solutions to reduce debris generation and risk on the space environment by maximizing the utilization of satellites. Through the ideation process, the solution space was narrowed down to in-orbit servicing, which was identified as having the greatest potential to address this problem. The focus was mainly on services such as life extension and in-orbit repairs, but other service types (e.g., in-orbit refueling and manufacturing) have also been mentioned and will be explored further.
In the next step, we plan to conduct user surveys with potential customers (e.g., satellite operators) to determine how to develop a business model centered around in-orbit servicing with a focus on space sustainability. Following that, our goal is to build a minimum viable product to gather additional feedback and to iteratively develop and refine our in-orbit servicing solution.
