Warning system from start-up Vyoma will protect satellites from collisions

Clearing the way in space

These pieces of debris are a threat to functional satellites in particular. The particles reach relative speeds of 10 kilometers a second. "This means that even though the particles are very small, in case of a collision they can have the momentum of a car traveling at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour," says Bamann. If a satellite is struck, it will be destroyed. Bamann founded the start-up Vyoma together with Luisa Buinhas and Stefan Frey in August 2020. Their objective: To establish a European warning system that will help operators navigate their satellites out of the danger zone.

"We observe the space debris and calculate its flight path," says Stefan Frey. To do this the team wants to use its own satellites equipped with optical cameras to photograph the pieces of debris. "Then we have a sequence of images which we can combine with information from earlier photos and can then determine the orbital path of the debris objects." Once the orbital path is known, the speed of the objects can also be determined. "Since the forces in near-earth space are known, we can also estimate where the objects will be flying," says Frey.

Ten satellites in a certain configuration make it possible to permanently observe the objects in space. "We see about 90 percent of all dangerous objects at least once or twice a day," says Frey. The founders themselves developed this special satellite arrangement as well as the software used to calculate the objects' flight paths from the photos taken.

Of course the idea of developing a commercial warning system for space debris isn't new, admits Frey. But in the past smaller companies would never have been able to finance such a system. "Satellites are getting smaller and smaller and the cost of putting a satellite into orbit has dropped," Frey observes. "This is why it's now affordable." But the difficulties are growing at the same time as the opportunities: Even now satellite operators have to perform at least one evasive maneuver for every satellite every year.

Satellite operators are already being warned of collisions. A network of terrestrial radar systems and telescopes operated in the USA catalogs objects with a diameter of ten centimeters or more. The researchers at Vyoma want to establish a space-based network which is even more precise and will detect even smaller objects. "Europe also has a significant interest in achieving a certain autonomy in this area," says Frey.

At present Vyoma's founders are working on a platform which uses a network of terrestrial sensor stations in Europe to capture data. In doing so they plan to offer satellite operators different services: Particular objects which could endanger a given satellite will be more precisely observable. And it will also be possible to locate the satellite itself, for example when communication breaks down. The company plans to launch its own satellite in approximately two years.

The founding of the start-up was supported by TUM Gründungsberatung. They also received an EXIST start-up subsidy funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund. Before the official founding of the company, the team used office space in the TUM Incubator. Their mentor Prof. Urs Hugentobler of the Professorship for Satellite Geodesy made his expert knowledge available to the them. Vyoma is part of UnternehmerTUM’s incubation program XPRENEURS.