Innospace Announces Winners of Aerospace IT Competition

Professors Sergio Montenegro and Tobias Mikschl from the aerospace information technology department of the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg have won the first Innospace Masters Competition operated by the Space Administration of the German Aerospace Center. The professors’ Skith project uses miniaturized, high-speed wireless modules capable of communicating across short distances in real time to produce a wireless satellite.

Second place was awarded to professor Enrico Stoll from the Institute for Space Systems at Braunschweig University of Technology, Stefan Linke from Invent GmbH and Andreas Dietz from the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films. The team’s OCULUS project combines various new production processes to apply highly reflective coatings to carbon structures, making the manufacture of lightweight optical mirrors possible for aerospace applications.

Third place was awarded to Dirk Mayer and Rogério Salloum from the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability, as well as Athanasios Dafnis and Andreas Dück from RWTH Aachen University for their multifunctional, lightweight structures for satellites.

The competition invited innovators to submit their proposals and concepts for the “New Space” economy. Around 50 startups, established companies, universities and research institutes from eight European countries submitted entries. The competition is embedded in the German Aerospace Center’s Innospace initiative, promoting innovation and new markets.