Swiss Space Systems, SpacePharma to Develop Life Science Communications System
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., September 2, 2014 (S3 & SpacePharma PR) — S3 USA Operations (Florida), Inc., a division of Swiss aerospace company Swiss Space Systems – S3, and SpacePharma R&D Lts (Israel) a fully owned subsidiary of Swiss SpacePharma SA, which specializes in solutions for medical experiments in microgravity, announce today having been selected as winners in a prize awarded by Space Florida in the Space Florida-Israel Innovation Partnership RFP for the development of a pioneering 2-way communications platform. This platform enables live data transfer between microgravity experiments onboard a Zero Gravity aircraft and a ground station.
The goal is to finalize this development in September 2015, in order to conduct live tests during S3 Zero Gravity flight campaign to be held from the Kennedy Space Center’s SLF runway. This interactive microgravity solution could later be implemented in other aircraft and for future space communication systems. Building on this first success, S3 and SpacePharma are developing strong relationships in Florida and more generally in the USA in order to commercialize advanced aerospace technologies and systems.
Less than a year after signature of a contract for the launch of 28 small satellites to begin in 2018, aerospace company Swiss Space Systems – S3 and life sciences microgravity experiment solutions expert SpacePharma strengthen their collaboration. They have now been awarded a prize for a joint project aimed at developing a 2-way communications platform between microgravity experiments onboard a Zero Gravity aircraft and a ground station. This innovative system will allow real-time ground-based management and interaction with the research payloads and will, therefore, improve the overall quality of the life science research conducted during microgravity parabolic flights, such as diabetes research. This innovative system will allow real-time ground-based management and interaction with the research payloads and will, therefore, improve the overall quality of the life science research conducted during microgravity parabolic flights. This is the first time such an interactive data transfer platform designed for exomedicine* experiment will be developed and implemented on an actual microgravity aircraft, making S3 Zero Gravity flights a precise, flexible and affordable platform to test new research on small satellite technologies before launching them. In a later phase, this communication system could be implemented for in-space applications or in future aircraft.
S3 Operations (Florida), Inc., an S3 USA subsidiary incorporated in early 2014, and SpacePharma R&D Ltd (Israel), a fully owned subsidiary of Swiss SpacePharma SA, responded to an RFP from Space Florida (a governmental entity of the Florida State created to strengthen Florida’s position as a global leader in aerospace) for a Florida-Israel Innovation Partnership project in aerospace. For both S3 and SpacePharma, this joint collaboration project constitutes an excellent opportunity to develop an advanced interactive communications solution, which will be a major asset in conducting a variety of high-precision microgravity experiments onboard S3 ZeroG aircraft.
The Space Florida award is for matching funding to S3 Operations (Florida), Inc. for a one-year development program. The goal is to finalize the development phase and to implement the resulting communications solution in September 2015, in order to conduct tests during scheduled microgravity flights onboard the S3 ZeroG aircraft, using the Kennedy Space Center’s SLF runway and facilities. This program will also enable S3 Operations (Florida), Inc. to create new jobs to progressively build-up its activities at the Kennedy Space Center before its planned S3 ZeroG flight campaign in Florida during the month of October, 2015.
*Exomedicine: This booming scientific discipline consists of studying and exploring medical solutions in a zero-gravity spatial environment, in order to then apply them on earth, notably in the form of new medications. This unique environment in fact allows research to be advanced with results which cannot be achieved in any other environment.
