Leonardo and Telespazio present the fourth edition of #T-TeC, the Open Innovation contest for students and researchers from all over the world

Farnborough (UK),  18 July 2022 17:00

  • With #T-TeC, Leonardo and Telespazio aim to drive innovation in the space sector, promoting the ideas and intuition of the younger generations and envisaging the technologies that will shape our future
  • The teams taking part in the 2022 edition will focus on six macro topics closely related to sustainability in Space and on Earth
  • Cash prizes and professional collaborations up for grabs and, for the first time, the chance to take part in an accelerator programme to develop the project for the overall winner

The fourth edition of #T-TeC, Telespazio Technology Contest, was presented today. Open to students and researchers from universities and departments all over the world, #T-TeC is one of Leonardo and Telespazio’s initiatives focused on Open Innovation: innovation shared with start-ups, research centres and academies to promote new ideas and opportunities. This year’s competition once again aims to harness the potential of the next generation, challenging young participants to tackle the issues that will shape the space sector, and not only, in the next few decades.

The three best projects will be awarded cash prizes of different amounts depending on their final placing. But the biggest new development for 2022 will see #T-TeC transform into a genuine start-up incubator: in addiction to receiving a cash prize, the team that finishes first will take part in an accelerator programme by Leonardo’s Business Innovation Factory to develop their winning project provided.

The committee, which will also include representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), will also reserve special mentions for some projects and will assess the possibility, for the most promising ideas, of launching collaborations with research or partnership contracts.

The teams taking part in the 2022 edition of #T-TeC will focus on six macro-themes closely related to sustainability in Space and on Earth: “Space and Extraterrestrial Exploration”; “In Orbit Servicing towards a Circular Economy in Space”; “GeoInformation Applications and Platforms for a sustainable Earth”; “Space Domain Awareness for the Protection of Space and Ground Infrastructures”; “Secure and Resilient Communications with future Technologies”; “Positioning, Navigation and Timing Infrastructures and Solutions for Earth and other celestial bodies”.

The 2022 #T-TeC contest has a number of prestigious endorsers: from “historic” sponsors like ESA and ASI, to new champions like the Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIDAA), the Space Generation Advisory Council in Support of the UN Programme on Space Applications (SGAC), and the Council of European Aerospace Societies (CEAS).

The awards ceremony will take place during the 15th European Space Conference in January 2023 in Brussels.