Mar 31 2021
ACCESS.SPACE Alliance and the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) signed a collaboration agreement on March 2021, bringing together members and knowledge to better serve and strengthen the Photonics and New Space industries.
Image Credit: ACCESS.SPACE Alliance
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signature was publicly announced at the EPIC Online Technology Meeting on Quarterly Briefing on New Space Communications and Monitoring on 31 March 2021. The collaboration between ACCESS.SPACE Alliance and EPIC is focused on cooperative activities and advisory mandates with the aim of bringing cooperation and, ultimately, support the development of an efficient and sustainable industry.
Driving technological development for the New Space industry
The partnership will encourage cooperation between the members, including participation at events, collaboration on information exchange and promotion, and advisory mandates to develop an efficient and sustainable industry. Dr. Jose Pozo, CTO of EPIC, said: “Having ACCESS.SPACE Alliance on board as a partner brings the opportunity to EPIC members to build potential collaborations and partnerships with the key players of the New Space industry. The main goal of this cooperation is to facilitate the communication between different parts of the value chain towards building common voice for the interests of companies using photonics technologies in New Space sector.”
Harnessing the photonics ecosystem for New Space
In May 2020 The ACCESS.SPACE Alliance has formed the Free Space Optical Communications Committee (FSOCC) uniting leading companies in the field of space-based laser communications. “The partnership with EPIC is meant to facilitate collaboration between EPIC members and those of ACCESS.SPACE developing laser communication solutions and applications with a view to leverage existing supply chains“, said Christian von der Ropp, Director and Co-Founder of the ACCESS.SPACE Alliance and chairman of FSOCC.