Albuquerque startup organization Q Station selected six companies, four of which are from outside the U.S., to participate in a new accelerator program.
As part of the program, called the Soft Landing Space Tech Cohort, the participating companies will be provided with a paid intern, marketing and finance assistance and "connection to top U.S. space research and development hubs located in New Mexico," a release from Q Station says. Companies will also receive free workspace and business assistance focused on government contracting.
Each company will bring at least one worker to the Q Station, the release says.
Participating startups include:
- Blue Eye Soft (South Carolina): Using artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict satellite performance degradation due to weather.
- Equatorial Space Systems (Singapore): Offers rockets that use "hybrid propulsion," a mix of solid fuel and liquid fuel.
- Leaf Space (Italy): Offers ground services to satellite operators.
- Neutron Star Systems (Germany): Developing an electric propulsion platform.
- Rogue Space Systems (New Hampshire): Designed robots to provide satellite services in space.
- SPiN (Germany): Offers an adapter for quickly integrating different types of satellite hardware.
The Soft Land Space Tech Cohort was announced in July, about three months after the grand opening for the Q Station. The Q Station is part of the U.S. Space Force's SpaceWERX initiative, which aims to work with private industry to develop technologies for the military agency.
Q Station is operated as part of an agreement between the Air Force Research Laboratory and the New Mexico Trade Alliance, according to the release.
The New Mexico Trade Alliance was awarded a $750,000 SPRINT grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to fund programming and internship opportunities for New Mexico college students, Q Station announced in April.
