#spaceinnovation

In recent years access to space has changed dramatically: Whereas in the past all access had to go through governmental space agencies, today the main drivers of innovation are private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin. Their transport systems, designed for scalability and reusability, and the resulting massive drop in the cost of transporting a kilogram of payload, form the very foundation for the fulminant growth of the New Space Economy and boost further developments.

The University of Zurich is a renowned player in the field of space and aviation research. At the University, Space research spans many disciplines including Earth observation/remote sensing, global biodiversity and climate change, biotechnology/ space medicine, astrophysics, supercomputing, autonomous flying, and aerospace.

UZH researchers have made great progress. In the area of biotechnology proof-of-principle experiments have shown that it is possible to grow human tissues in microgravity, opening up for mind-blowing applications in medicine. In the field of earth observation, many new satellites in orbit enable the special and temporally continuous monitoring of earth. This provides the basis for commercial and non-commercial applications e.g., in forest management, precision farming, and biodiversity or glacier monitoring.

The ecosystem of innovative research projects, world-class experimental platform and involved stakeholders from the university and beyond holds a great innovation potential, this is why the UZH Space Hub was launched in 2018.

UZH Space Hub

participants joined the Space Café events

The UZH Space Hub is a space and aviation ecosystem, connecting and supporting researchers, students, companies, and start-ups. At the moment, the Space Hub network consists of 34 research groups and more than 25 cooperating institutions in Switzerland and abroad. The UZH Space Hub promotes innovation, among other things, by providing easy access to the Swiss Parabolic Flights. The flights are conducted by the Swiss Sky Lab Foundation and offer tailor-made experimental conditions to test new procedures and technologies in weightlessness. In addition, the UZH Space Hub can provide access to e.g., Zeppelin, suborbital rockets, and the International Space Station. The Space Hub acts as a node for space research, innovation, and outreach. It’s activities reach beyond the natural sciences and involve interdisciplinary questions such as ethics and sustainability.

In 2022 the UZH Space Hub again engaged strongly in outreach and educational activities. Funded by the UZH Graduate Campus it continued the event series Space Café attracting more than 250 participants from research and industry. A career event organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) attracted 140 students from a broad range of disciplines. Three members of the UZH Space Hub gave lectures at the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “New Space Economy” organized by Space4impact, E2MC and space groups at EPFL. The course is directed at students and entrepreneurs who are interested in space. Furthermore, the UZH space Hub participated in the ”Dübi-mäss” and the Innovatica organized at the Innovation Park Zurich, and the Robotics and Perception Group conducted the Swiss Drone Days. In October 2022 the UZH Space Hub and the Swiss Sky Lab Foundation run the 6th Swiss Parabolic Flight campaign, bringing four experiments from various fields – among others a space life science experiment from the National University of Singapore – into weightlessness.

#stories

Venturing the production of human-tissue in microgravity

Prometheus Life Technologies Prometheus Life Technologies is a spin-off company based on the expertise and idea of UZH Space Hub members Prof. Oliver Ullrich and Dr. Cora Thiel. The company emerged out of the “3D Organoids from Space” project, which was initially proposed by University of Zurich and Airbus at an innovation competition in 2018. After winning the competition, the team continued with an extensive R&D phase including both ground-based experiments and two production tests on the International Space Station (ISS) on board SpX-20 and SpX-23. On the ISS cartilage, bone, liver, and neuronal tissue were successfully produced. Prometheus Life Technologies was founded in 2022 with venture capital and is located at the Innovation Park Zurich.

The company will offer large-scale production of organoids in microgravity. Organoids are 3D in vitro culture systems derived from self-organizing stem cells, recapitulating the in vivo architecture, functionality, and genetic signature of original tissues.

The New Space Economy is based on three pillars: technological innovations for use in space, the adaptation of space technologies for use on Earth and space manufacturing in low Earth orbit.

Innovation Park Zurich

The Innovation Park Zurich as part of the national “Switzerland Innovation” network, provides an environment that encourages innovation and promotes networking between industry and science, thereby strengthening Zurich as an attractive area for innovation. The University of Zurich is an active member of the park. With the UZH Space Hub researchers and start-ups have access to runways, hangars, on-site labs, and workspace as well as indoor drone flight test facilities.

Human tissue organoids have great potential in pharmaceutical research and testing, precision medicine and transplantationbased therapies. Producing these tissues in space makes it possible to overcome the characteristic Earth bound under normal gravitational forces Under Earth condition the production requires complex production processes with additives or supportive structures, making standardization and constant quality difficult to achieve.

Prometheus Life Technologies was recently chosen as the overall winner of the inaugural Reef Starter Innovation Challenge among 200 competitors, organized by the Orbital Reef consortium, which is developing a commercial space station to be built in low Earth orbit. Furthermore, Prometheus Life Technologies was accepted into ESA-BIC Switzerland (the European Space Agency Business Incubation Center site in Switzerland), as part of the cohort of start-ups starting in January 2023.