South Australian AI company AICRAFT has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to develop and bring to market new solutions for space. Those MoUs are with Scanway (Poland—innovative smart imaging systems) and HEX20 (Australia—new constellations of smart satellites).
The signing and announcement of both partnerships coincide with the 15th Australian Space Forum held in Adelaide, Australia, on May 9, 2023. The partnerships will leverage AICRAFT’s AI and semiconductor technologies, Scanway’s expertise in designing and manufacturing electro-optic systems for space and industrial applications, and HEX20’s expertise and experience in designing and manufacturing satellites and avionics.
Both companies acknowledge the support of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) that organized an initial meeting between AICRAFT and Scanway as part of a business matching event between Polish and Australian delegations at the 2022 International Astronautical Congress in Paris. Austrade’s role is to promote Australian space sector capability and connect Australian firms with international partners through its network of trade specialists in Australia and markets around the world.
The partnership with another South Australian company — HEX20 — will explore the design, deployment and operation of smallsats and payloads in LEO as well as building smarter and larger satellites for future geostationary and deep space missions.
“The collaboration with Scanway provides us with a tremendous opportunity to embed our low-power, high-speed edge computing technology in space-proven imaging systems for real-time Earth Observation and space domain awareness. AICRAFT is on a mission to turn every payload into a smart one by embedding its scalable AI technology. We are excited to partner with local South Australian company HEX20 as this will give us the scope to integrate, launch and provide low-latency services to customers.”
— Dr. Tony Scoleri, CEO of AICRAFT”
“Scanway is very excited about the possibilities that will emerge from collaborating with AICRAFT in the scope of providing more advanced optical payloads packed with AI for better performance of Scanway’s telescopes on orbit.” — Mr. Jedrzej Kowalewski, CEO of Scanway S.A.
“The adoption of AI technology is a must-have in modern satellites. The HEX20 team is delighted to partner with AICRAFT to equip HEX20’s future satellite constellations with state-of-the-art software-defined and AI payloads.” — Lloyd Jacob Lopez, CEO of HEX20.
AICRAFT is a South Australian company that designs and manufactures smart sensors, tailored systems and electronic boards powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The company specialises in purpose-built electronics and advanced semiconductor technology to craft ultra-compact, high- speed, low-power, embedded AI solutions for high-performance edge computing in space and on Earth.
Scanway S.A. consists of two teams – Scanway Space, which specialises in creating observation systems for micro- and nanosatellites, and Scanway Industry, which develops industrial quality control systems. Scanway Space is one of the European leaders in the field of optical payloads and space cameras. The company designs, develops and implements smart optical instruments for small satellites: Scanway’s Optical Payload (SOP) and Spacecraft Health Scanner (SHS). With years of experience, a variety of skills among Scanway’s engineers and several completed and ongoing R&D projects (including PIAST and EagleEye) allow Scanway to create unique solutions, tailored as best as possible to customer’s requirements.
HEX20 is founded and run by a group of people passionate about outer space and its everexpanding horizons. The company builds cost-efficient and reliable satellite platforms for customers worldwide for academic, commercial and government missions. It has recently released a FlatSat kit for educational purposes and plan to launch a 3U, 6U and 27U satellites in 2023.
