IENAI SPACE is a Spain-based in-space mobility company focusing on an end-to-end ecosystem of products, both software and hardware.
In this article we discuss their growth over the last 12 months, look ahead to the company’s plans and ambitions in 2024, and share further information about their portfolio.
Contents
- IENAI SPACE’s growth in 2023
- IENAI SPACE’s ambitions for 2024
- Space mobility and evolving regulations
- IENAI SPACE’s portfolio
- Further reading
IENAI SPACE’s growth in 2023
We asked IENAI SPACE what the company’s biggest wins in 2023 were. They replied with the following information:
2023 has seen a lot of work and effort from the team, which means our biggest wins were tied to our ongoing product development! For our 360™ mission analysis & space mobility software (360) we carried out an extensive closed BETA with more than 30 renowned players in the industry, which allowed us to provide actionable insights for the design of space mobility layers in their upcoming missions while in turn receiving very valuable feedback.
Based on this, we released 360 commercially in its first version in October, and are currently working on the next releases as we expand the functionalities of the tool towards more general mission analysis, while doubling down on our unique space mobility analysis capabilities. We have already secured a number of clients for the tool and are looking to expand on our client base next year.
For the ATHENA – Adaptable THruster based on Electrospray for Nanosatellites system, this year saw the kick-off of two projects with ESA. An ESA MAKE for technology maturation of our thruster with which we intend to take the propulsion system to TRL8; and an ESA DRISK to develop novel capabilities for the future.
These projects have been extremely successful to date and have allowed us to advance and consolidate the technology under the independent validation of ESA, with a major milestone being the successful closure of the Preliminary Design Review for the thruster at the end of the year.
We have also received additional funds both regionally as well as in the form of an additional ESA contract for further efforts to miniaturize the ATHENA technology, which in the future would pave the way for pico-satellite class thrusters or RCS for nano-satellites.
IENAI SPACE’s ambitions for 2024
IENAI SPACE also shared the company’s strategic aims and ambitions for this year:
During 2023 we booked our next IOD for ATHENA in partnership with EnduroSat and were also awarded a spot on the Cassini IOD initiative, led by ISISpace. This means that at the end of 2024 we could see not one but TWO IODs for our propulsion systems happening in parallel. This is part of our goal to release a commercial product with more extensive heritage than your average space product, which we believe will go a long way toward building trust with our future clients.
Ideally, if all things go well, we should see a commercially ready ATHENA Nano thruster by the beginning of next year! On our software capabilities side, we will continue building on the foundations of 360, expanding its capabilities into general mission analysis capabilities but with a “New Space” twist, and of course touting our unique space mobility analysis features. We believe the tool can become a new standard for mission analysis software and are looking forward to many more users being onboarded throughout the year.
Finally, 2024 is the year we kickstart the development on ORBITAL, our flight dynamics and maneuvering operations tool, which will be based on a unique digital twin approach and should remove many of the pain points we currently see in the industry when it comes to moving satellites in space.
Space mobility and evolving regulations
IENAI SPACE also shared some insights on the wider space industry, and how they relate to the company’s strategic aims and ambitions:
In general, space mobility is becoming more and more relevant, first because constellations are THE next big thing (and have been for a while) and it is clear that propulsion plays a major role here; specifically electric propulsion, considering that more than 65% of all satellites launched to orbit in the last 10 years carried an electric thruster.
So our advice is to take space mobility seriously and plan ahead early on in the mission to reduce pain points later down the line (and we’re always standing by to help solving this particular problem).
As an example, for constellation deployment planning there are currently a lot of missed optimization opportunities for cost and time that can be accessed if the launcher and on-board propulsion system can be selected (or even tailored) by looking at the problem holistically; luckily, this is one of the upcoming features of 360 that we’re most excited about and we hope the users of the tool value it as a very unique capability.
Secondly, regulations are coming for propulsion-less satellites in the very near future; the wild-west years of the space industry focusing on LEO are behind us and we hope we can bring a no-compromise solution to the market in terms of performance, cost and availability, one which is customized around our clients’ satellite platforms, and not the other way around, which I hope our clients find refreshing.
IENAI SPACE’s portfolio
This section includes a variety of IENAI SPACE’s products available on the global market today. Click on the links to open pages with more detail on each system.
You can then make requests for quotes, documents, or further information, and we’ll handle these for you (find out more about how this simple process works on this page). You can also submit an open tender here and our expert procurement team will get back to you ASAP.
The IENAI SPACE 360™ is a mission analysis tool with a cutting-edge space mobility analysis capability. It is based on a high-fidelity flight dynamics propagator, coupled to a heuristic optimization algorithm which enables a wide range of concurrent engineering and design functionalities.
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The IENAI SPACE Adaptable THruster based on Electrospray for NAnosatellites (ATHENA) is a fully customizable, on-board electric propulsion system, that can be tailored to spacecraft platform constraints, and specific mission requirements.
Further reading
The links below will take you to other satsearch resources where you can learn more about some of the topics mentioned on this page: