OneWeb has launched Innovation Challenge 2022: connectivity and beyond – an invitation to create innovative applications, products, solutions, and technologies that will advance global technology by utilising the full potential of a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation.
The challenge offers an open invitation to engineers, industrial partners, academics, and research professionals from around the world to redefine what solutions and applications are possible through OneWeb’s network coverage across the ground, sea, and space. This challenge also offers the opportunity for European and Canadian partners to join the European Space Agency (ESA) Sunrise Partnership project, pending eligibility.
This year’s innovation challenge provides the opportunity for innovative thinkers to collaborate with the company to drive the future of not only communications, but any application that could be unlocked through OneWeb’s global constellation.
The annual challenge aims to harness ideas that will continue to improve and transform satellite-based solutions, bringing forward new proposals for future LEO satellite and ground applications and technologies. OneWeb is looking for industrial partners from any sector, as well as students and research partners, to present proposals for how existing or new technology could be applied to build the LEO constellation-based applications of the future.
With this year’s “connectivity and beyond” theme, OneWeb welcomes ideas on how its global LEO constellation could support applications including, but not limited to, telemedicine, crisis response, natural disaster monitoring, and data fusion.
Speaking about the challenge, OneWeb’s Innovation Programme Lead, Maite Carreras, said: “OneWeb is fast approaching the completion of our global low Earth orbit communications network. This is your chance to dream up the boldest idea for an application that our unique constellation can bring to life.
“So far, we have only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible with a LEO satellite communications network. Last year’s challenge helped us to explore and accelerate key technologies for our future Gen-2 constellation, and this year we want to go one step further. This challenge is an extraordinary, maybe even a chance-in-a-lifetime, opportunity to bring to reality applications that can revolutionise the future of humanity.”
European Space Agency Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Elodie Viau added: “This innovation challenge, which is supported by the European Space Agency, is a great opportunity for European and Canadian industries to propose smart ideas to make the best use of connectivity from LEO orbits. I want to encourage all our industry partners to take part in this initiative to be in the lead for space solutions and future connectivity excellence.”
Finalists will be shortlisted in December and will be invited to present their proposals to the OneWeb Innovation Challenge jury, with the awards announced in January 2023.
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