Paperjam 10x6 SPACE : Recap

Every night, before going back home after basketball practice, I look up at the stars (thankfully we can see them in Luxembourg) and think about how grateful I am and wonder about the mysteries that space contains.

In my first year of high school (2010), Marc Garneau, the first Canadian to travel to space, gave us a presentation on his training and missions. As a kid, it made me dream about space exploration and discovering new planets. Although those dreams didn’t translate into an astronaut career, because of the astronomical cost of such training (pun intended), it led me to attend the Paperjam 10x6 event on Space. Through this event, we learnt that Luxembourg is a developing hub in the international space industry. This article recaps the presentation of a constellation of speakers who are leading the charge in this sector.

Marc Serres - Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA)

After participating in his children career day at school, Mr Serres noticed that children nowadays have a good understanding of space and how we use it on a daily basis. For example, most kids know that GPS are based on satellite signals and are used for our phones, televisions and weather forecasts.

 “Space is not only useful, it’s inspiring”

He notes that working on space resources utilisation has become inevitable, which is demonstrated by the increasing number of missions to space, both from space agencies and commercial entities. According to Mr Serres, are starting a revolution in how humans behave in space. In fact, a study from the LSA shows that we will be able to use resources from the moon such as water and metals in the next 10 to 15 years.

Julien Alexandre Lamamy - iSpace Europe

Mr Lamamy gave us a glimpse into iSpace’s vision of a new economy that leverages space resources. Although the space economy seems like it is only accessible to NASA, Space X and companies like Virgin Galactic, Mr Lamamy explained that numerous non-space companies are investors and sponsors of space missions in order to be on the ground floor of new opportunities and innovations.

“We are currently in an era of Space Renaissance”

Moreover, he shared a 20 year timeline (2019 to 2039) that outlines the steps of the construction of a lunar city, starting from a demo mission, resource exploration, resource utilisation/pilot plans and production scaling. Mr Lamamy ended by saying that this new economy will not only allow us to leverage space resources, but will create new jobs such as Moon Valley Engineers, as imagined by a young

Andy Bowyer - Kleos Clearspace

There is more and more talk around space, thanks in part to companies like Space X who are making rocket launches a common occurence. However, for many people it is still unclear as to what it all means. Mr Bowyer explains that it can be broken down into two categories: Upstream, which represent the tools and material to explore space, and downstream, which relates to how space can be used to deliver services.

“Space is an enabler that can be used to deliver value”

At Kleos, they are using satellites to deliver valuable ship tracking data to clients and keep international waters safe. The company has 4 Luxembourg-licensed satellites 500km above the Earth, 50km apart who pickup radio activity from ships to track illegal activities.

Thomas Friederich - EarthLab

At EarthLab, their mission is to use raw data and transform it into useful information for insurance companies and industries. He explains that it is less expensive for companies to enter the market of the satellite industry and explains the increase in startups in this sector.

“Raw data needs to be completed by other data sources to provide a horizontal vision”

Mr Friederich explains that raw data needs to be completed with other data from social networks and IoT, which will then give a horizontal vision. From this, they can teach the AI for Automatic Detection.

Gerd Eiden - LuxSpace

The mission at LuxSpace is to make international waters more secure. They do so by using Automatic Information System (AIS) which generates a maritime awareness picture and serves as an anti-ship collision system. Such a system can be used for compliance monitoring, fishing surveillance, search and rescue missions, and estimate the arrival of ships at ports such as Rotterdam, thus improving the logistical organisation of big ports.

Omar Qaise - OQ Technology

In today’s world 2.5 billion people have no connectivity to the internet. For Mr Qaise, that is not acceptable. In his mind, the world is changing, but the rate at which people are connected is not following that trend. This is where his company steps in: to deploy very small satellites into space that will provide high efficiency, and high connectivity to people in remote areas in the world. Moreover, his satellites will provide value for different sectors such as energy, infrastructure, disaster management and environment monitoring.

Christophe Loeillet - University of Luxembourg

Mr Loeillet presented a series of affirmations that show that space is a very demanding and specific domain which requires a very specific training. First there are the physics aspect of a launch like insuring that the rocket or object has acquired a sufficient velocity of 20.000 km/h. Second, one must take into account the particularities of space, such as it’s extreme environment of temperatures and radiations. Third, space training and missions are very expensive. It’s one thing to get to space, but to stay there and survive is quite another. That is why companies must keep in mind to seek extremely high value propositions.

“Why should we pursue space exploration if it’s so expensive ? Because in the long-term, it may constitute the only avenue for our species to survive”

Abdu Gnaba - SocioLab

Mr Gnaba was the last speaker of the night, and certainly did a stellar conclusion. He opened up by quoting John F. Kennedy:

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

According to him, the conquest of space requires the very best of humankind. The conquest of space has transformed into the Quest for Space, where more and more people are disinterested in space exploration, but are increasingly interested it’s exploitation and colonisation. As humans, we differentiate ourselves from other Beings by our ability to reflect on our own mortality: We are but a speck of dust in a gigantic cloud of stars and planets.

Finally, Mr Gnaba says that space allows us to rethink our borders, feed our thirst for knowledge, accept to change our point of view and opens the door to dreams.

“Space allows us to go beyond what separates us to understand what unites us.”

I hope that you have enjoyed this recap as much as I enjoyed hearing it from this star-studded panel of speakers (had to finish with a pun!). I’d love to hear what are your thoughts on the future of the space industry, comment below !

Zach Traer is a Talent Acquisition Consultant at THE RECRUITER in Luxembourg. Originally from Chelsea, Québec (Canada), Zach is passionate about sports (especially basketball), positive routine-building, personal development, and the World. Follow him on instagram @zachtraer