Platform for innovation
At Beyond Gravity, innovation has many faces and very different origins. For example, in the “Launchpad”, the company’s own incubator programme for start-ups. But also internally: with the Space Race competition for engineers. And last but not least, in cooperation with students and universities.
Launchpad – the platform for start-ups
Launchpad – the platform for start-ups In October 2022, Beyond Gravity launched its own startup programme called “Launchpad”. The incubator supports start-ups and their promising space technology ideas. The incubator′s three focal points are space technology itself, the optimisation of value chains, and the human factor in general. In an eight-week programme, Beyond Gravity offers exclusive contacts in the international space environment as well as access to highly-specialised engineers, leading technologies and varied production resources.
Coordinated innovation
Everything to do with innovation comes together in the innovation team. It launches collaboration training, maintains the internal innovation channel on Yammer and helps organise the internal Space Race competition. Different teams of engineers each take on a special challenge: in 2022, the focus was on new ways of transmitting power from rotating parts to fixed parts and how these are used for motors to control solar panels on satellites. In addition, a three-month project started with a group of students from the University of St. Gallen to successfully implement business model innovations related to the collection of data from the atmosphere, which is used in meteorology or climate change research, for example.
The STARS are the employees
The stars are the employees at Beyond Gravity who have the courage to challenge and improve the status quo. They are the people who contribute to the company′s success. But STARS is also an element of new culture, curiosity and performance. Various initiatives have emerged from the internal STARS programme, such as the Woman Alliance Community, which offers events, workshops and other networking opportunities for women at different locations, and the Work out Loud platform with a 12-week personal development programme.
Student rocket launches
The student-run association ARIS (Akademische Raumfahrt Initiative Schweiz – English: Academic Space Initiative Switzerland) or the EPFL Rocket Team bring together students from various Swiss universities who are passionate about space exploration. In addition to two competitions with successful rocket launches in Portugal and the USA, ARIS was also able to carry out the first launch here in Switzerland in 2022 (image 3). In around 10 years, ARIS then wants to break through the Kármán Line with a self-engineered rocket and launch its self-developed satellite into space. Beyond Gravity supports ARIS and the EPFL Rocket Team both financially and with technical know-how as an initiative partner.
