The global space industry runs on software and communication technologies. Lithuania's large ICT industry has been growing in recent years, and the services the industry provides are now used in various space operations everyday.
Today, 5.4 percent of Lithuania`s GDP is generated by the country's ICT sector. From cybersecurity and fintech to AI and big data, hundreds of companies have sprung up in the Baltic nation.
At the same time, the global space sector's value could triple from €554 billion in 2023 to €1.66 trillion by 2033. To help connect Lithuania's companies, including ICT, with the growing needs of this global sector, Innovation Agency Lithuania created Space Hub LT in 2022.
Lithuania became an associate member of the European Space Agency back in 2021. Five years later, Lithuanian companies are looking to make important contributions that will benefit the European Space Agency (ESA) and space companies around the world in the coming decades.
"For instance, Blackswan Space's solutions will directly contribute to the 'ISAM (In-Space Assembly, Manufacturing, and Servicing) space economy,' a relatively new and vital focus area for ESA," Sataite continues. "Looking ahead, it is expected that BlackSwan Space and companies like it will transition from contributors to active participants in full-scale ESA missions."
Space intelligence
As the complexity of the operations that space agencies and companies undertake in orbit grows, the complexity of the software that's used to carry out these operations must grow as well.
Blackswan Space, a Vilnius-based startup building advanced in-space autonomy solutions for the next decade of orbital operations, is one of the Lithuanian companies that has seen success in the space sector.
"Software development and all progress in the IT field directly transfer to the space industry," says Tomas Malinauskas, Blackswan Space's Chief Commercial Officer. "Be it simple software development in C or C++ used in every satellite payload, or the latest AI and GPUs, everyone is rushing to use these advancements in space."
Blackswan Space has won a number of contracts with the ESA. One of these contracts will see the Lithuanian company play a central role in the upcoming ASTRAL mission, which will be the first European in-orbit refueling mission. The mission's goal is to demonstrate in-orbit satellite refueling in space. Blacksawn is contracted to deliver the Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) Kit.
"The RPO kit is a hardware payload that enables satellites to navigate in space autonomously," Malinauskas says. "This technology directly enables super complex space operations like docking one satellite to another one, e.g., for refuelling, life-extension, or even offensive applications."
Blackswan's technology demonstrates how far Lithuania's space sector has come in a short time. "Roughly speaking, ten years ago, Lithuania essentially had no space sector at all, only early beginnings and a few individual enthusiasts building satellites," Malinauskas says. "Today, we have a small community with a handful of real space companies offering actual products or services to the market."
Satellite communication
Satellite operations is one area in space commerce and research that's expanding exponentially, as private and public interests continue to launch all kinds of satellites for all kinds of purposes. With so many satellites in orbit, communication is key.
Automation expertise is huge in Lithuania, with Novian PRO's Gediminas Viškelis also training up engineers who are helping in space. Novian PRO is an ICT company providing AI, R&D, software engineering, system integration, and cybersecurity services for the aerospace and defence industries. The company is working with clients like ESA, OHB System, Tesat-Spacecom, British Telecom, Rheinmetall, and others.
"We have very skillful professionals combining ICT, aerospace, defence, and security domain knowledge," Viškelis says.
Novian is a consortium partner in one of the biggest space-related projects, "ODIN'S EYE", which is funded by the European Defence Fund. The project consortium is working on the European space-based missile early warning system. "IT and software solutions are integral and very important parts of the space systems, from ground stations to satellites," he adds.
"Cutting-edge IT technologies like AI, edge-computing, and quantum technologies enable the capture of real-time and near-real-time data, and turn it into valuable information and insights for the decision makers in the civil and defence domains. That would not be possible without modern IT systems."
As Lithuania has the fastest growth rate of IT specialists in Europe, with nearly 1,100 future experts graduating every year, this gives plenty of opportunity for growth.
Global automation
Sensmetry, a Lithuanian-Swedish tech company, has been gaining attention as the information systems around the world begin to transition more and more into the realm of artificial intelligence and automation.
"In the past three years, Sensmetry has quickly grown into a trusted industry leader in modern systems engineering tools," says Dovydas Bieliauskas, a solutions engineer at Sensmetry. "Syside, the company's main product, is a comprehensive system engineering tool suite designed for the AI era."
Syside is a tool suite that can refine and automate information systems. Essentially, it makes system engineering much easier in the fast-paced era of AI. Outside of Lithuania, companies operating in space and other high-tech industries across the globe rely on Syside with most interest in Germany and the US.
Sensmetry's technical expertise is making an impact within the space industry ecosystem, both through ESA projects and beyond. ESA has implemented its reference libraries using Sensmetry's tooling - Syside. Two European large scale integrators use Syside to enhance system development activities.
"Sensmetry's automation solutions are successfully deployed on some of the most advanced and sophisticated satellite constellations, assuring their reliability and availability without human input," Bieliauskas says.
"The automation technology is based on a rigorous "system-as-code" paradigm utilizing a novel SysML v2 language, allowing algorithms to support or make decisions about the system across its lifecycle – from design stage to operation," he continues.
From automation to robotics, Lithuanian companies are working to build novel solutions to problems that are often being considered for the first time.
While the tools and products that these companies offer to the space industry and beyond vary widely, a common thread that runs through all of them is the ingenuity and willingness to embrace tomorrow's technological challenges.
