Trends: Artificial intelligence in space
Date: 2 March 2022
Author: Trends
You can find the Dutch article in Trends here.
Some startups want to conquer the world. Starter Nick Destrycker of Edgise is aiming even higher. "Within three years, our first proof-of-concept will be orbiting the earth," he predicts.
Why did you found Edgise?
"I have always felt an urge to contribute solidly to the progress of humanity. At Edgise, I can combine three passions of mine: space, technology and artificial intelligence. After studying industrial engineering at KU Leuven, I worked at imec for a year, and then at ICsense as a digital chip developer. At the end of2019 , I founded Edgise, which now employs three engineers."
What does Edgise do?
"We develop Al software and hardware for satellites and rocket engines. This allows them to process the data they collect themselves, and then share it with operators on earth. For example, interference between satellites can be dealt with more efficiently. There are so many satellites flying around the earth that they are increasingly interfering with each other. Today, an operator has to figure out which signal is interfering with his satellite and then try to solve it. With artificial intelligence, the satellites classify the problem themselves."
What innovation are you bringing?
"We are making space systems greener and more sustainable by making them ready to execute Al-algorithms. Today, satellites send millions of photos to Earth, for example, about a forest fire or an oil spill. These are analyzed on Earth. With our solution, the satellite itself analyzes images and sends the exact data about a forest fire to Earth. If we make rocket engines smarter, they might last up to thirty times without major repair work, compared to a maximum of ten times today."
What support does Edgise get?
"For HR, administration, legal and management, our incubator, De Cronos Group, helps. This allows me to make my dream come true without investing financially myself. Financial support we get from Cronos, VLAIO, the European Commission and ESA through public tenders."
