ESRIC’s Space Resources Accelerator announces its first cohort of six innovative ventures, aimed at advancing lunar exploration and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). These projects, selected for their technical and commercial potential, will collaborate with ESA to demonstrate technologies in lunar conditions. Alex Godlewski, Business Accelerator Officer at ESRIC (European Space Resources Innovation Centre) tells us more about this first selection of companies.
How will ESRIC measure the success of the Space Resources Accelerator?
At ESRIC, our aim is obviously to witness some of the ventures accelerated by the Space Resources Accelerator participating one day to lunar missions. Yet, this is mainly driven by and dependent on space agencies. The modest goal of the Space Resources Accelerator is to make Moon projects happen and demonstrate that the technologies which were vetted by ESA can work in lunar simulated environment, unlocking the utilization of in-situ resources. If we are able to demonstrate this today, then this is an important step towards building future Moon champions… and match more Moon-compatible/ready technology frontrunners with ESA.
What ensures strong collaboration between private ventures and ESA?
This is an important point because public and private funding are both key for the success of deeptech ventures and yet follow very different logics. Generally, public institutions fund projects and private investors fund companies. As the Space Resources Accelerator is a public-private co-funding instrument, it was important for me to reconcile these different aims, and thus look beyond the sole project proposal to consider the broader company potential like investors usually do. Since I joined this initiative, I have been particularly involved with my background in bringing an “investor view” into space resources, a topic which has been predominantly assessed by scientists and researchers. This is why I was very proud to organize the very first investor roundtable at last Space Resources Week in Luxembourg to share additional perspectives. This will drive more interest from the private sector on space resources, notably investors.
“In order to de-risk companies financially, we selected companies with good business plan foundations […] and with a capacity to solve lunar use cases with potential synergies.”
Alex Godlewski, Business Accelerator Officer at ESRIC (European Space Resources Innovation Centre)
For most deeptech innovations, support of the public sector (whether financial or in-kind) is key and an endorsement. The aim was to select companies which could deliver projects meeting the high expectations and fill the technology gaps of the lunar exploration roadmap of ESA while being poised for growth and scale. After all, if these technologies are capable of resolving the most significant lunar challenges, not only will they shape the future of space exploration but also have potential impact on Earth through spillover effects. Portable computers, camera phones and wireless headsets are innovations among many others which were initially developed by or for space agencies that have become everyday products.
How will ESRIC help early-stage ventures overcome funding and technical challenges?
The Space Resources Accelerator has been precisely designed to tackle financial and technical challenges which were addressed to us by entrepreneurs throughout the ideation phase of this project.
In order to de-risk companies financially, we selected companies with good business plan foundations, i.e. addressing terrestrial and/or in-space market(s) and with a capacity to solve lunar use cases with potential synergies (e.g. energy, manufacturing and materials). With the lunar market still in the making, this in my opinion a pre-requisite and the reason why this programme is primarily focusing on start-ups transitioning to scale-ups. Securing customers and generating revenue is critical, and this is reflected in our cohort which managed to attract private funds (€70M+ cumulated). Aside from ESA’s own financial contribution, we will of course facilitate investor matchmaking. As a matter of fact, FibreCoat, one of the six selected ventures, just closed a €20M Series B funding round including NewSpace Capital, an investor they met at Space Resources Week.
As for technical, this is a challenge for which institutions such as ESA and ESRIC can play a key role. Technical facilities, equipment, samples as well as experts represent a significant gain in fast-tracking lunar prototypes and we are looking on a case-by-case basis on how we can support each project in-kind.
The first cohort is composed of the six following ventures each of which proposed a space resource enabling project. They were selected by a joint ESA-ESRIC evaluation panel:
- FibreCoat (Germany, 2020): Produces high-performance materials for various sectors, focusing on fibre-based solutions to support lunar infrastructure and exploration.
- Maana Electric (Luxembourg, 2018): Specializes in ISRU and power generation, aiming to produce solar resources on the Moon.
- Orbital Matter (Poland, 2022): Focuses on construction and additive manufacturing in microgravity for lunar infrastructure.
- Orbit Fab UK (2022): Develops in-orbit fuel supply infrastructure, adaptable for lunar landers, hoppers, and rovers.
- Space Power (UK, 2022): Develops power beaming and plasma cleaning technologies for lunar dust mitigation and operational efficiency.
- Volta Space Technologies (Canada, 2020): Builds a wireless power transmission constellation to provide energy around the Moon for explorers and settlers.
