The conquest of space has long since ceased to be (or at least, not only) a matter of geopolitical supremacy as in the days of Armstrong and Gagarin. It has become an increasingly pervasive and relevant business with very terrestrial consequences, also in terms of potential opportunities: beyond space travel for bored billionaires (which in any case still represents a branch of business), it is in satellites that the true frontier of development of the aerospace industry lies. A frontier towards which are directed not only the efforts of large aerospace agencies or visionary entrepreneurs (and with a great sense of Marketing) like Elon Musk, but also small realities, start-ups born from an intuition and transformed into reality. Among these is an all-Italian one, PicoSatS, a spin-off of the University of Trieste whose vision is to create an increasingly interconnected and sustainable world thanks to more compact satellites and advanced solutions that make space accessible.
Born from AtmoCube, an educational and research activity aimed at building the first small satellite in Trieste, the company was founded in 2014 and is based in Area Science Park, the largest Technology Park in Italy. PicoSatS was founded by a multidisciplinary team of people with complementary skills and solid experience in engineering, industrial management, production and international space missions (ESA and NASA).
The investment round is EUR 1 million, in which LIFTT has invested EUR 500,000. The focus is on small satellites. A fascinating world, explained by founder and university lecturer Anna Gregorio.
“Initially we wanted to do everything. I mean the complete satellite,’ explains the scientist. I had an immersive and exciting experience behind me: from 2009 to 2013, I had experienced a huge mission with the European Space Agency as operations and instrument manager. We had launched a two-tonne satellite, one of the most important missions of ESA and also of the Italian Space Agency.
Back in Trieste, I continued on the wave of enthusiasm, but changed the size of the satellites I wanted to deal with, dedicating myself to micro-satellites. The physicists and the Rector always gave me carte blanche and for PicoSats, they supported me right from the start, even financially. I soon realised, however, that it was necessary to restrict not only the size of the satellites to be dealt with, but also the scope of activities: ‘making’ a complete satellite is in fact something enormously complex, also from a logistical and organisational point of view, considering the mechanical structure of the satellite and the many elements inside it, from the solar panels to the on-board computer to the batteries, radio and some scientific telecommunications systems. Having a team of only five people at the time, I necessarily selected the objectives”. “We were the first in Europe and among the first in the world to succeed in miniaturising radios high frequency, both in reception and transmission. Our satellite also excels in sending data from the earth to the satellite”
What is your core business?
“Since reality is something that every researcher must and cannot ignore, we decided to focus primarily on the development of telecommunication systems, i.e. on-board radios and antennas. From a production and design point of view, the radio is the most difficult thing to make and the most expensive.
When we talk about small satellites, we mean cubes of 10 cm side as a unit base, practically half a shoebox, with a mass of one kilo, but which can be put together like LEGOs: in fact, you can put them together and compose them to create larger satellites until you get cubes of 30 cm side and 50 kg mass. They were created for educational purposes and this is the reason why I approached this field, but I soon discovered that these satellites can have commercial uses’.
Why telecommunications?
“In a world that is still pioneering in some respects, such as the satellite world, we have identified great potential for development in telecommunications, because small satellites are subject to many limitations due to the use of even amateur radio systems, as a matter of ease of obtaining licences. In practice, it is sufficient to register as an amateur radio to have your own satellite, they are inexpensive and there are many on the market. The problem with these systems is that they work at low frequency and the consequence is that they transmit very little data and very slowly. We therefore identified a very promising business area consisting in the development of technologies capable of transmitting at a higher frequency, KA, the equivalent of switching from an old modem to a modern ADSL. However, this posed a novel challenge: high-frequency radios cannot be accommodated in miniaturised satellites because they require large dimensions, otherwise there is a risk of interference.”
And this is where your proprietary technology comes in?
“Exactly. Our added value consists precisely in the miniaturisation of high-frequency radios: we were the first in Europe and among the first in the world to have succeeded in miniaturising them, both in reception and transmission. Radiosat in particular is an advanced communication system for small satellites that enables the sharing of large amounts of data at high speeds, at a competitive cost and in a more sustainable way than what is on the market today. It works as both a receiver and a transmitter, and its peculiarity is that it can also be adapted and used for different frequency bands and applications, not only for telecommunications. The European Space Agency liked our project very much and we now have our first prototype of a miniaturised high-frequency radio for small satellites, and we are ready to take it into space to test it in its natural environment.”
How do you differ from Elon Musk’s Starlink project?
“Our product is not a small satellite that provides connectivity to the whole world as is the case with Starlink even though, incidentally, we work on the same frequencies as Starlink, but rather a component that can be used in all areas where communication is needed, from satellites to ships. Currently, transmission is between radio and radio and between satellite and earth, but what is crucial is that communication also takes place intra-satellite, the so-called intersatellite link. ”
What will the funding round be used for?
“To grow. We have two steps in our sights: to develop ourselves in the market – and in this regard we have already signed contracts with two customers – and to validate our products with the launch into orbit scheduled between the end of this year and the beginning of 2023. Here in Italy, as in Europe, the concept of investor is a difficult one. You follow the chicken-and-egg principle: first they tell you that you have to have the hardware to propose to the market, and when you have it they tell you that you have to ask for funding first. In the US it’s different: they know that you’re a start-up and you can’t have the requirements of a structured company with solid roots, so they evaluate you differently, especially in a sector like space that is on the crest of a wave right now. I therefore intend to capitalise on my relational network, which has allowed me to give birth and grow this reality also thanks to the connections I had at the Italian Space Agency, in the person of its President or its technological and scientific manager. In this way, I find myself at the head of a company that now has 4 main partners and can count on the support of Madein.it, the initiative promoted by Innovation Factory that supports start-ups and innovative SMEs both nationally and internationally, and has allowed us to join the Prospera Women programme, an international initiative that supports female start-ups.
To go from designing something beautiful and useful to thinking in economic terms, designing an object that is also profitable, is by no means simple: that is why we want to fully develop the potential inherent in the proprietary technology we have developed, and to do so requires financial support and structured support in our growth path, also at an organisational and commercial level.