LG 212 - Juillet 2018

18 LG
JUILLET/AOÛT 2018
ICT
SPARC Industries- Breeding
technology to seed the future
For all the sweeping visions conjured up by the space
industry, they require the hard work of those engineering
the technologies and hardware to make this future a reality.
SPARC Industries is a forward-looking startup seeking
solutions to emerging challenges and evolutions in space,
focusing its research and development (R&D) on plasmabased
technologies. As it is approaching its first anniversary,
CEO Dejan Petkow and Deputy CEO Thorben Meinardus
are intent on developing technologies to enable the future.
Inheriting neutron generator technology
and the associated expertise from GRADEL,
SPARC Industries was compelled to
determine the fate of this workstream.
Analyses conducted to assess the state
of the latest form of this technology
demonstrated that a major commitment
to further development was required to
make it viable, a herculean task associated
with significant financial risk for the young
startup. Against this background, the team
has opted instead to launch a maintenance
service for existing neutron generators,
creating an additional short-term source
of revenue while focusing its R&D on the
above projects.
SPARC Industries was born as a spin-off
enterprise of GRADEL, a well-established
company whose tireless pursuit of
innovation has made it a household name
in the nuclear equipment industry. In 2013,
GRADEL created the NSD department,
which subsequently drove the development
of plasma-based technologies, including
neutron generators. SPARC Industries was
founded in November 2017 and took over
the department’s entire set of technologies
and patents in 2018.
Located on the Belval site of Technoport,
Luxembourg’s oldest business incubator,
SPARC Industries is a member of the
Luxembourg Space Cluster and receives
support from the Ministry of the Economy
and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Ambitious and practical, the currently
8-man strong team is striving to turn ideas
into realities and develop products to
market maturity.
The Mission of SPARC Industries
SPARC Industries’ R&D priorities are
guided by their distinct expertise in plasma
physics and technologies. In addition to
varied consultancy services offered to a
range of space and non-space actors, the
startup is currently developing a plasmabased
satellite propulsion system and a
plasma simulation software in a bid to
extend its core business.
The plasma-based satellite propulsion system
represents an innovative approach to respond
to the emerging needs of the impending era
of satellite constellations in Lower Earth
Orbit. These constellations require a shift
in satellite construction towards a subsystem
and component-based approach
with simpler and cheaper designs and
elements, not dissimilar to mass production.
SPARC Industries’ thruster using Inertial
Electrostatic Confinement technology meets
these criteria and distinguishes itself through
a thrust vector perpendicular to its length
axis. The recent fabrication of a 3D-printed
prototype testifies to the progress achieved,
with predictions that the system will be
market-ready in 2023.
With a view to promote the development
of its hardware-based technologies, SPARC
Industries is devising its own plasma
simulation software. The startup found
that existing tools on the market do not
adequately meet the specific needs of its
R&D, which deals with highly energetic
gas flows at very low density. Counting on
10 years of experience, the team decided
to develop its own plasma simulation
software in 2015, taking into account the
complexities of surface chemistry and
flow physics and seeking to anticipate the
challenges of tomorrow. While primarily
serving its own internal R&D needs at the
moment, the software is equally designed to
meet commercial standards and will make it
to the market in 2019-20.
“Striving
to turn ideas into
realities and develop
products to market
maturity”
Over the coming year, the magazine will
accompany SPARC Industries on its
journey. It will showcase some of its projects
in more detail and explore the various
facets of what it means to be a startup in
Luxembourg’s evolving innovation ecosystem.
n
SPARC Industries sarl
Technoport SA - Belval
9, avenue des Hauts-Fourneaux
L-4362 Esch-sur-Alzette
info@sparc-industries.com
www.sparc-industries.com