SPACE4YOU Project

Sectors

Space4you works to sustaining entrepreneurship and fostering the capability of the space sector’s actors in the Ecosystem, both for the upstream and the downstream domains. The Space sector is experiencing an increase in global competition, also as a result of disrupting technological changes, including digitalization, miniaturization, new manufacturing methods, artificial intelligence, reusable launchers, that are significantly affecting traditional business models and reducing the cost of accessing space, as well as new disruptive space-based services in the downstream sector, such as earth observation, communications and navigation.

Scientific Leader

Sabrina Corpino, Associate Professor, DIMEAS, Politecnico di Torino
Fabio Dovis, Full professor, DET, Politecnico di Torino

Themes

CubeSats and nanosatellites allow building brand-new architectures, which would be un attainable with bigger satellites. This new paradigm requires the development of adequate technology toenhance CubeSat performance and increase mission success. The proposed research topic addresses some of the most interesting challenges to support the development of missions (upstream) and services (downstream) based on micro and nanosatellites, addressing both Earthapplications and space exploration.
The power of the small satellite paradigm mainly relies on the possibility to build constellations of space platforms able to deliver unprecedented data sets in terms of variety, quantity and spatial distribution. Exploitation of satellite capabilities for new services for the users requires modern methodologies for the design of the whole system addressing innovative architectures for the space and ground segments, in order to increase implementation efficiency and applications’ effectiveness for the stakeholders and final users.

Objectives

Space4You is a laboratory that shall tackle these challenges and provide solutions for increasing the capabilities and outcomes of small satellites missions in the areas of the design of space architectures for supporting innovative applications and services, the development of technologies, materials, equipment, and processes for preparation and sustainable implementation of new applications, as well as modern infrastructural solutions for increasing autonomy of space habitats.
The ambition of the flagship project implementing Space4You is to provide a competence center as well as experimental facilities to cover all the different phases of a space programme from the design to the exploitation, in order to support a variety of activities that are of interest for companies.

Expected results

The Space4You knowledge portal

A first relevant outcome of the project is the creation of a Space4You knowledge portal, i.e. anaccessible database of the competences and skills available in the research aerospace ecosystem. The competence database will be accessible through a public web interface and will report the different competence topics and reference contact persons.
It will be deployed starting from the competences of the partners of the flagship project, but it is intended as a living database, that will be enriched along the project and maintained, as a reference point for a global picture of the technical competences of the Space research in the area.

The Space4You facilities

An effective support to the companies for the development of innovative solutions needs also atechnical support in the different phases of the processes. For this reason, the Space4You lab, will offer also the use of facilities for testing and validation of the designed solutions.
The set of facilities will include pre-existing tools and experimental set-ups that the different research groups will bring as contribution to Space4You as well as other that will be developed as outcomes of the research activities performed in the first phase of the project.

Impact on the territory

The development of the Space4You lab shall bring a new asset in the ecosystem. It will be sustainable beyond the duration of this specific project, making it a reference point for the research in the Space field.
The applications of space technologies and data can generate impact across multiple fields of interest for the ecosystem sand the related spokes, including precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, new services for mobility, new services for heritage and cultural assets, thus enlarging the range of potential involved SMEs beyond the classical pool of aerospace companies.
The creation of new innovative businesses in space will be boosted by the European Space Agency Business Incubation CenterTurin (ESABIC Turin www.esabic-turin.it ), launched in 2021 and managed by I3P – the Business Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, in partnership with Politecnico di Torino and LINKS foundation. The ESABIC Turin supports new space-related ventures operating both in upstream and downstream space segments and has gathered a very large network of supporting corporates, research centers, financial operators and investment funds.

Participants:
 

Politecnico di Torino: 

• DIMEAS Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• DET Department of Electronics and Telecommunications
• DAUIN Department of Control and Computer Engineering
• DISEG Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering
• DISMA Department of Mathematical Sciences "Giuseppe Luigi Lagrange"
• DIST Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning
• DIGEP Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
• DISAT Department of Applied Science and Technology

Università di Torino: 

• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Physics
• Department of Mathematics

Links Foundation

• Research Unit - AI, Data and Space
• Research Unit – Advanced Computing, Photonics and Electromagnetics

Politecnico di Bari