How École polytechnique is advancing the #newspace frontier • Eric Labaye

Good afternoon to everyone. It's a great pleasure to be here today to talk about space, and in particular Space Connect, as the event has been organized also by alumni of Ecole Polytechnique. So just to show that this matters to the school, matters through the ecosystem of the school. I'm glad also to be here to talk about space because space is under revolution. We know it has been of interest for decades, obviously for research, understanding the universe, but also increasingly interesting for geopolitical reasons: security, sovereignty is at the core of space topics, and obviously economic in addition to this, as we see that telecommunications, agriculture, a lot of industries depend on space and innovation. So at the core of research, sovereignty, and economic topics, Ecole Polytechnique has always been a part of the space history and is accelerating on that front, trying to push the frontier along these different dimensions. I would like to share with you today some of the advances we are making on the research front, on the education front, and on the innovation front, as that's the mission. In a domain where today not only the states are continuing to invest into space but also the private industry is investing, global action is going on. It's very important to continue to be at the frontier and to push the topics forward. If I focus first on research, we have 23 laboratories at Ecole Polytechnique; some of them are here today, some professors are present at Space Connect. We have been pushing in many dimensions. I'll highlight a few to show where research is going. Basically, the frontier of the space domain is along several dimensions. The first one is observing the Earth from space: the LMD, the Dynamic Meteorology Laboratory, trying to understand more how the atmosphere is going, and we know climate change is at the core of big challenges society is facing. This laboratory continues to push the understanding through leaders on Earth or on satellites, understanding better where the climate is going and impacting our actions. Another topic: you may have already talked about it, but it's part of what also Gérard has been pushing. The Nobel Prize in Physics is around cleaning up space debris: more than 20,000 debris in space threatening observation or missions. The laser is of utility here through the high power developed for new techniques, getting melting points on the debris and getting them out of orbit. The laboratory here is the LULI laboratory, focusing with the EXCANT project on solutions. A third area is to continue understanding the solar system through spectroscopy instruments; the LPP, the Plasma Physics Laboratory, has been pushing in that direction with new ideas. A third area is understanding deep space, beyond the solar system, the universe, how to detect messages coming to Earth. A laboratory based on the name of a famous alumnus, a famous professor, is working on cosmic rays, understanding what is coming to Earth, in particular as part of the HESS project based on telescopes in the Namibian desert to understand the inflow of gamma rays and high energy rays. A fourth or fifth element is to reproduce astrophysical phenomena, where the laser plays a role, trying to reproduce extreme conditions of temperature and pressure to understand what's going on in planets, especially gaseous planets and their magnetic fields. A sixth is reaching space via plasma propulsion, innovating along that dimension. Two other elements I would highlight: the OBIGA laboratory working on chips, microcircuits for radiation resistance and low power consumption to put microchips in space instruments; and the SAMA, the Applied Mathematics Laboratory, working on high performance computing to support modeling through all these instruments and detectors. As you can see, many dimensions of new space, many frontiers pushed by our laboratories. We are very pleased to see this activity contributing to research. But beyond research, I would like to move to education. A second topic of our mission, we have been developing a specialization curriculum around space to allow people to deepen their understanding through high scientific modules linked to research but also a learning-by-doing approach with projects with researchers, students, and industry players. Two examples: the CubeSat done four or five years ago, and Ironside going on right now with dozens of students, with the objective of sending it to space in a few years. This is in the context of the Student Space Center of Ecole Polytechnique, developed by Professor Chabel and a few other researchers, with support from industrial players like Telesat, Airbus, Iron Space Group, and CNES, linking research to education and entrepreneurship. This is an area that has accelerated in the last five to ten years; innovation at Ecole Polytechnique has been accelerating through the combination of research, education, and industrial players. Examples: ThrustMe, founded by Anne-Sophie, a researcher from LPP, led to innovation acceleration at the Plateau de Saclay and now a highly successful business; Exotrail on similar propulsion topics and sustainable development in space, developed by alumni of Ecole Polytechnique, accelerated through the incubator and accelerator; also Share My Space, focused on surveillance of space for sustainable development. There are many others: We Rock on integrated circuits for hardened circuits for space, and SpaceSun focusing on agriculture to provide information to improve management. In any case, the economic impact space can provide to agriculture is significant. Today, space faces several challenges: continuing research to understand the universe, geopolitical concerns about sovereignty. We see Europe taking care of these aspects, with the commissioner announcing a billion-euro innovation fund. We also have billionaires investing. The ecosystem is changing, and universities, particularly Ecole Polytechnique, want to play a role in linking research to alumni, industry, and further innovation. In conclusion, beyond what we are doing today, we are continuing to invest. We have been building the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, bringing together five schools. Together we are building an institute to push science and technology, and space is a major domain we want to continue to push, linking our laboratories with those of Telecom Paris, ENS Paris-Saclay, etc. Solving space challenges requires multidisciplinarity. We are also hosting the CubeSat Symposium in November to continue pushing networking on a European basis, with a competition at that time. We are very proud and hope some of you will join. Finally, we are part of a European network, EuroTech Universities, with our friends at TUM in Munich, DTU in Copenhagen, TUD in Dublin, Technion, and EPFL in Lausanne. Together we are developing the EuroTech University to continue pushing education and research around engineering, providing solutions to the most important issues society is facing. Space is definitely a critical issue we need to address. We will continue both in Palatian, on the Plateau de Saclay, and in partnership with our European colleagues to provide solutions, push research, nurture education, and drive innovation. I can conclude by saying that we continue to push the frontiers in space in a context of major transformation in the space arena. It is at the core of what we will continue, and Ecole Polytechnique is committed to push research, education, and innovation in the space industry. Thank you for your attention.