ZAP // Dall-E 2
Thousands of tons of trash orbit the Earth, putting satellites, astronauts and space stations at risk. The 22-year-old founded a startup to try to solve this problem.
Anyone who wants to talk to Leonidas Askianakis must first find a time in their calendar. Your appointments are scheduled meticulously, at 30-minute intervals, from 5am to 11pm. Meetings? Online only and always on a single theme: Space.
Despite the long daily journey, his schedule is always full weeks in advance. Quite a lot of work for a 22 year old. After all, when does he sleep? “I’m in the final stretch. I can’t just put my project aside,” he says.
A young man with a mission that doesn’t leave him alone even at night. Stay up, reading the latest news from China about debris in orbit and more danger to astronauts. At the beginning of November, a Chinese crew had to extend their stay in space due to fears that their spacecraft could be destroyed. hit by space debris during the return to Earth.
In fact, space junk is kind of an Askianakis specialty. Thousands of tons of it orbit the Earth, like decommissioned satellites, rocket pieces and debris. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), more than 1.2 million objects larger than one centimeter orbits our planet, with more than 50,000 of them larger than ten centimeters.
“Especially at altitudes of 700 to 800 kilometers, we have huge clouds of debris that remain for centuries and even multiply through collisions”, says Jan Siminski, from ESA’s Space Debris Team in Darmstadt. Even one centimeter is enough to destroy a satellite: “In a collision, the energy released equivalent to a grenade.”
This is why Earth’s orbit is monitored 24 hours a day. But the smaller the fragments, the harder it is to find them. “With our ground-based radar systems, we typically detect objects the size of a tennis ball, about ten centimeters. Anything smaller than that is invisible,” says Siminski. “This means that there is always a certain risk.”
So what to do with space debris?
It is exactly this risk that has worried Askianakis since the first year of his aerospace engineering course at the Technical University of Munich. “How can space junk remain in orbit for 200 years and Does anyone do anything about this?“, he asked himself after a class.
He looked for allies at the university and in workshops, most of the time, in vain. “In 2021, almost no one understood what garbage had to do with Space”, he recalls. Later, while vacationing in Crete, under the starry sky of his homeland, an idea occurred to him: space debris must be commercially collected.
With a satellite equipped with highly sensitive radar, algorithms and scanning patterns, it aims to make debris ranging from one to ten centimeters visible, enabling, for the first time, complete monitoring of the orbit. Later, probes with robotic arms will remove the larger fragments.
A conversation with Airbus representatives reinforced his determination. “They were aware of the problem and were pleased that someone was trying to solve it. That’s when it hit me: I really I need to open my own company“. He founded Project-S. As if by divine intervention, shortly after its founding, the new European Union (EU) space law came into force obliging satellite operators to remove their space debris.
Bavaria wants to reach the stars
However, it is not possible to open a startup in the sector with just a few thousand euros. Who would be so audacious as to invest in a company dedicated to collecting space debris founded by a 22-year-old?
“We,” said Bavarian Economy Secretary Hubert Aiwanger. Since 2018, the southern German state has invested more than 245 million euros in space projects, from the planned lunar control center in Oberpfaffenhofen to innovative but risky startups. “Here, companies and research institutions can implement projects that would otherwise never come to fruition”, highlights Aiwanger.
Bavarian governor Markus Söder’s enthusiasm for space exploration is well-known. But Aiwanger also has a vision: “Bavaria must continue to be the backbone of European space exploration,” said the secretary. To achieve this, the state is investing a lot, but without requiring ownership of companies.
“In California, they barely believed me“, laughs Askianakis. “What do you mean, you guys get money so easily?” For the development of its first space mission, scheduled to launch in 2026, Project-S is receiving co-financing of 1 million euros from the Bavarian state government.
This guarantees Askianakis freedom and independence. Many American investors condition financing on the company moving to the USA. “Why would I do that when I can find ideal conditions in Bavaria?”
From bar joke to space power
The Bavarian space ecosystem also has high hopes for the 35 billion euros in investments in space and defense capabilities announced by the federal government. According to Aiwanger, this is a step in the right direction, but insufficient. Your state has decided boost your own space sector“for being aware of both the high potential and the responsibility”, he explains.
Satellites from Oberpfaffenhofen, astronauts from Oberammergau, perhaps even a Bavarian lunar mission – a few years ago, that would be a laughing matter. Today, however, the space boom in Bavaria is no longer science fiction, but a very real economic policy.
The state, which is already home to more than 10,000 highly qualified jobs, has 2.9 billion euros in contracts with ESA, which corresponds to almost 40% of Germany’s contract volume with the European agency since 2015. Bavaria is aiming for the stars, and with remarkable efficiency.
The state wants to fly higher and higher, at least as far as Space is concerned. Leonidas Askianakis, with Project-S, wants to ensure that the path to get there remains clear. After all, someone will need to make room when it’s even tighter up there.
