ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Cover picture: ESA’s first Exoplanet Mission CHEOPS Photo Credit: ESA TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................4 2 Year 2019 Review ...............................................................................................................5 3 Reports of Industrial and Institutional Members .................................................................10 3.1 Austrian Academy of Sciences .......................................................................................10 3.2 AAC - Aerospace & Advanced Composites GmbH (AAC as spin-off from AIT)..............62 3.3 Atos IT Solutions and Services GmbH .............................................................................69 3.4 ENPULSION GMBH .......................................................................................................80 3.5 EODC: Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources Monitoring GmbH.............83 3.6 EOX IT Services GmbH.................................................................................................87 3.7 Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt – University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt (& research company FOTEC)..................................................................................................96 3.8 GeoVille Information Systems and Data Processing GmbH..........................................101 3.9 Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH ......................................................107 3.10 MAGNA STEYR Aerospace...................................................................................... 122 3.11 OHB Digital Solutions GmbH ......................................................................................124 3.12 RUAG Space GmbH...................................................................................................129 3.13 Seibersdorf Labor GmbH ............................................................................................135 3.14 Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) ...................................................................147 3.15 TTTech Computertechnik AG .....................................................................................155 4 Executive and Members ..................................................................................................157 Photo: ESA 5 Industrial Members ..........................................................................................................158 6 Research Organisations ..................................................................................................160 7 Institutional Members ......................................................................................................162 3 1 Introduction The present AUSTROSPACE Annual Report is composed of a brief review of major space events in 2019, contributions from industrial members and research organizations about their space activities, and a current list of members with contact information. Vienna, June 2020 Max Kowatsch Hans-Martin Steiner President Vice President and Managing Director A U S T R O S P A C E Association of Austrian Space Industries Mailing Address: AUSTROSPACE p.A. Ruag Space GmbH Stachegasse 16 1120 Wien www.austrospace.at 4 2 Year 2019 Review In 2019 orders for seventeen geostationary (GEO) telecommunications satellites were placed worldwide, which means a significant increase compared to the previous year (5) and the first double-digit number since 2016. Ten contracts were awarded to European satellite manufacturers (Airbus: 4, Thales Alenia Space (TAS): 4, Airbus & TAS jointly: 2) and seven to their US competitors (Boeing: 2, Northrop Grumman: 2, Maxar Technologies: 1, Astranis: 1, Saturn Satellite Networks: 1). Satellites ordered ranged from the 350-kilogram Astranis small GEO to the heavyweight 6500-kilogram very high-throughput ViaSat-3 Asia-Pacific satellite booked by Boeing. For 2020 expert predictions vary between 10 and 20 GEOs. (Source: Space News, January 20, 2020). Commercial geostationary telecommunications satellite orders 2019 (Source: Space News, January 20, 2020) However, the number of GEO orders may no longer be a useful metric of market demand, as operators seem to develop a preference for portfolios of satellites from a few hundred kilograms to several thousand kilograms. Technological breakthroughs in the area of flexible, high- throughput satellites as well as competition from constellations of small satellites in low earth orbits (LEO) make the picture even more complex. The development of OneWeb, a constellation of 648 LEO satellites in the first phase with a planned follow-on extension, has experienced further delays. The launch of the first six satellites, built by Airbus in Toulouse, at the end of February 2019 was a highly important milestone for the operator, at least. The next phase of the constellation deployment, however, had to be postponed to 2020. In the meantime, satellites are delivered from a new production 5 site in Florida jointly established by OneWeb Satellites and Airbus, where up to two satellites can be integrated daily. OneWeb launch on Soyuz from Kourou In May 2019 competitor SpaceX successfully launched the first 60 satellites for a much more complex network of 11.943 satellites (Starlink), which shall be deployed until 2025. Further 60 satellites were delivered in space in November. According to company information releases, currently seven satellites are produced daily, and, after further five launches of 60 satellites each, initial services shall be started in northern USA and Canada. Global operations shall commence after 22 launches. Starlink satellites in orbit In January 2019 a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched the final ten Iridium NEXT satellites. This completed the deployment of the 75 satellites constellation. With additional four satellites put into service in February 2019, the European satellite navigation system Galileo now is operational with 22 satellites. Unfortunately, the system suffered a week-long outage in July. On December 18 the CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS), developed under the direction of the University of Bern and ESA, was launched on a Soyuz-Fregat from Kourou. 6 The CHEOPS mission is dedicated to the characterization of exoplanet transits. The telescope will observe how planets pass in front of their mother star in other solar systems and support the search for potentially life-friendly planets. Austrian scientists and industry have contributed major elements to the challenging satellite payload. CHEOPS at ESTEC (Source: ESA) CHEOPS launch on Soyuz-Fregat from Kourou (Source: ESA) The ESA Ministerial Conference Space19+, which took place in Seville on November 27/28, concluded with a remarkable success for ESA and a very strong signal for the European institutional space market. New commitments confirmed by member states add up to 14.4 BEUR, which represents an increase of 40% compared to the previous conference in 2016. 7 The budget for the science program and the basic activities of the agency was increased by almost 10%. The Earth Observation program, in particular the joint ESA/EU initiative Copernicus, received very high interest, but also the proposed activities in the areas of Human & Robotic Exploration and Space Transportation were strongly supported. ESA Ministerial Conference Space19+ (Source: ESA) Unfortunately, Austria could not fully adapt the subscription portfolio to this growth path, due to budgetary limitations. As a consequence, the relative level of total contributions declined from 1.9% in 2016 to 1.3%. The focus on Earth Observation and Telecom remained, but in some highly interesting new initiatives in Exploration as well as in Space Safety & Security there are currently no substantial opportunities for Austrian industry, despite attractive potential and product offerings identified by several companies. This unsatisfactory situation needs to be corrected by an adjustment of subscriptions, where possible. This is a matter of urgency, to avoid that Austrian suppliers lose ground in a dynamic market situation, where many new initiatives, both institutional and commercial, will shape the future of space industry for the next decade. At the end of 2019 AUSTROSPACE had 20 members. The evolution of sales of the four biggest AUSTROSPACE companies is illustrated on the following page. The figures demonstrate a rather good leverage effect of ESA projects, i.e. a sustainable growth of commercial business. 8 *) no figures available due to organizational changes no figures available for 2019 9 3 Reports of Industrial and Institutional Members 3.1 Austrian Academy of Sciences The Space Research Institute (Institut für Weltraumforschung, IWF) in Graz focuses on the physics of space plasmas and (exo-)planets. With about 100 staff members from 20 nations it is one of the largest institutes of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, ÖAW). IWF develops and builds space-qualified instruments and analyzes and interprets the data returned by them. Its core engineering expertise is in building magnetometers and on-board computers, as well as in satellite laser ranging, which is performed at a station operated by IWF at the Lustbühel Observatory. In terms of science, the institute concentrates on dynamical processes in space plasma physics and on the upper atmospheres of planets and exoplanets. IWF cooperates closely with