The competition is an initiative of the project "SeRANIS – Seamless Radio Access Networks for Internet of Space," which in turn is part of dtec.bw, based at the Bundeswehr University in Munich. The project will serve as an experimental field and technology platform for the development of the next mobile communications standard, 6G, and will enable startups to collaborate with founders@unibw directly into the mission. The innovation competition is aimed at new space startups, teams, and entrepreneurial research initiatives that want to test and demonstrate their technologies under real-world conditions in orbit.
The course of the challenge
The SeRANIS x Founders Challenge is open to all industries and topics, so any startup or team interested in testing innovative approaches and technologies in space is welcome to apply. These could be from the fields of 5G/6G, navigation, laser and quantum communication, Earth observation, data processing, AI, satellite technology, or resilience. The planned mission launch is in 2025. The application deadline is November 5, 2021.
In January 2022, the most promising startups will begin a four-month boost camp. This will assess and further develop the technical maturity and feasibility of their ideas, as well as ensure their fit with the overall SeRANIS mission. This includes free mentoring from technical experts, topic-specific workshops, and a feasibility test. The final selection for "Hitchhiking into Orbit" will then be made. They will receive three years of ongoing coaching from and with renowned experts from aerospace, electrical engineering, signal processing, and the space industry. These experts will support product development and certification and provide scientific feedback. They will also provide the necessary testing infrastructure. All with a clear goal: to launch the technology into space with the small satellite mission in 2025.
“Strengthening the innovative power of Germany as a startup location”
"With this challenge, we deliberately want to promote the transfer between research and practice in order to translate research into viable products. Conversely, startups now have the opportunity to gain access to an international research team and use the SeRANIS platform as a demonstrator for their technology,"
so Andreas Knopp, the head of the SeRANIS project and initiator of the “Hitchhiking into Orbit” challenge at the Bundeswehr University Munich.
Rafaela Kraus, Vice President for Entrepreneurship and initiator of founders@unibw, reinforces this approach:
"By involving and participating startups, founders, and researchers in the ideas competition, we are demonstrating our goal: research that has a social impact and leverages innovation potential. In the case of SeRANIS x founders, we are making our contribution to strengthening the industry's leading market position and the innovative power of Germany as a startup location."
