Skip to Main Content
Winners of 2018 Astropreneurship Awards from SSPI Signal  Strength of Emerging New York State Entrepreneurship in Space Technologies

(2 November 2018 – New York) – Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) announced last night the recipients of the first annual Astropreneurship Awards at the conclusion of Astropreneurship Day, a day dedicated to the celebration of entrepreneurship in space technologies in upstate New York and New York City.

The 2018 Astropreneurship Award Recipients are:

  • GLADOS (Glint Analyzing Data Observation Satellite) from the Nanosatellite Lab at the University of Buffalo
  • Ragnarok Industries, headquartered in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
  • Will Porteous, RRE Ventures, headquartered in Manhattan

“Last night’s honorees are an inspiring cross-section of the emerging space technology sector in New York State,” said SSPI executive director Robert Bell.  “Space has become the fastest growing technology investment sector, and the hard work and imagination of these companies and individuals has laid the foundation for a true innovation ecosystem in the region.” 

The first annual Astropreneurship Day in New York was presented by SSPI, Ogilvy, Hogan Lovells and the New York Space Alliance. The event was held at the offices of Hogan Lovells in Manhattan. The day featured discussions & special presentations on the dynamic expansion of space commercialization, start-up activity and the future of the industry in New York State, and concluded with the presentation of the Awards at an evening reception.

         


About the Astropreneurship Awards
The Astropreneurship Awards are part of SSPI’s global Better Satellite World campaign. The campaign educates students seeking a career, regulators overseeing the industry and future customers on the immense contributions of space and satellite commercialization to the lives of every human being on the planet.  It makes the cast that satellite is an indispensable industry that saves lives, improves quality of life, grows the economy and helps manage the major challenges facing the world today.


More about the 2018 Astropreneurship Award Recipients

GLADOS
GLADOS (Glint Analyzing Data Observation Satellite) is the first satellite designed and built by the team at the University of Buffalo’s Nanosatellite Laboratory, located in Amherst, New York. A succession of graduate & undergraduate student teams have worked for the past six years on behalf of the USA Air Force Research Lab, NASA and Moog from conception to eventual – scheduled for some time during the next 24 months – launch of a cubesat. Its mission is to study light data and to classify space debris from “glint events,” as well as to characterize the size, shape and material properties of the debris. The data it provides will be used to protect GEO space and improve situational awareness of space.  It is also the first step toward being able to truly measure the debris problem in all orbits, at all sizes, so that other innovators can do something about it.  Parts of the mission are classified. http://ubnl.space/?page_id=302

Ragnarok Industries
Ragnarok Industries is one of the best new businesses in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – which is saying something, as the neighborhood is a hotbed for tech startups. Ragnarok has built a nanosat company, now operational and with a client base, that will deliver polar broadband service via its Hiemdallr satellite. Led by Luigi Ballarini, the young company is already embracing the SSPI spirit. His project is being watched closely by NYSA and the engineering community for its special design electrical propulsion (non-volatile and non-energetic) as it plans propulsion toward lunar orbit. Ragnarok is also working with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, VA on a complex full duplex UHF/VHF uplink transceiver to assist the students in learning about the components of a working satellite and multiple communication methods. http://www.ragnarokindustries.com/

Will Porteous
General Partner & COO, RRE Ventures
RRE Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm. They have a reputation as open-minded and thoughtful investors that encompass independent perspectives. During his nearly 20 years in the industry, Will and his team at RRE Ventures have invested in a range of higher risk ventures that cover the entire ecosystem of our industry, including Spire, Spaceflight & Ursa. These have become category defining ventures, which stimulate investment from others and the confidence of entrepreneurs.  Since his first investments in space and satellite technology, Will has become a central figure in the New York space technology sector. http://www.rre.com/will-porteous/

 

About SSPI
Founded in 1983, Space & Satellite Professionals International (www.sspi.org) is on a mission to make the space and satellite industry one of the world’s best at attracting and engaging the talent that powers innovation. With more than 3,700 members in 40 nations, it is the largest space and satellite industry association in the world. It delivers on its mission through programs that promote space and satellite as the invisible but indispensable infrastructure of the modern world, and that help turn individual promise into careers filled with purpose through research, career education for young people, management education for working professionals and talent recognition that spans the industry.

 

For More Information
Matthew Owen
Communications Manager
212-809-5199 x105
mowen@sspi.org


 November 02, 2018