Unibap has recruited a new senior business developer with space and IT solutions background in Mathias Persson. CEO Fredrik Bruhn met with Mathias to discuss the evolving space sector and the possibilities of Unibap’s new framework SpaceCloud^TM.

It was a beautiful spring day in Uppsala when we met CEO Fredrik Bruhn together with Unibap’s most recent recruitment Mathias Persson. Mathias has a background as CEO and business developer of ECAPS; a high technology company specialized in green propulsion systems for satellites. He will assume the position as a senior business developer at Unibap on May 1^st.

– I think we were lucky that you were available right now. The timing for Unibap is perfect for a recruitment like yourself at this time when we just recently have started new contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA). Your background in space technology, as well as cybersecurity and IT solutions, is of great value for us and our growth path. What we are doing at Unibap with SpaceCloud^TM is in fact to enable flexible IT-systems, in space, says Fredrik Bruhn.

– I also think the timing for a new technology like SpaceCloud^TM is perfect. The space sector has been very conservative, but we have seen a significant change lately with the emergence of NewSpace, investments in broadband constellations in non-geostationary-orbits for communication and the general shift towards small flexible satellites and constellations for all kind of applications. One of the most important contributions with the new aerospace companies and ventures is that it has shown the benefits of using new technology in space instead of old school space technology. This reflects a key aspect of SpaceCloud^TM, in that it enables the use of standard x86 processor IT infrastructure in space, i.e. the same architecture that Intel and AMD provide for servers, laptops, desktops and other computer types on Earth. Now there is no need for a special division of “Space-IT developers”, says Mathias Persson.

What experiences from your earlier carrier do you think will come of use at Unibap? 

– My background is first of all from KTH (Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm) where I did a Ph. Lic. in applied computational aerodynamics. After that, I worked in IT for ten years, as IT program manager and later CEO of a startup Compingo Consulting, that was acquired and merged with Omegapoint. We did work with internet banking, financial services, quality systems for healthcare and other high demand societal services where cybersecurity and low latency is crucial. As Unibap with SpaceCloud^TM is developing a framework for space apps I see some common denominators with the IT systems we did at Omegapoint, says Mathias.

– I also see significant benefits in Mathias past experiences in the field of cybersecurity and IT. In the new space segment that Unibap is exploring cybersecurity will be of crucial importance. The apps that will be developed for the SpaceCloud^TM framework will, in many cases, have legal implications. One of these aspects that is explored in the joint project with ESA are digital signatures of all apps, says Fredrik.

What new possibilities does the SpaceCloud^TM framework enable? 

– In the long term, I see that SpaceCloud^TM is a step towards the possibility to use satellite as a service effectively. If you want data of any kind, the framework makes it possible to deploy applications after launching, for data analytics and processing reconfiguration. SpaceCloud^TM gives the customer so much more flexibility, says Mathias Persson.

– One other important aspect is that with the framework, we also can optimize the data transmission back to Earth or to other satellites in space. Instead of sending vast amounts of raw data that is most often not used from space to Earth, which is the standard procedure, we can through SpaceCloud^TM and  flexible Apps filter out commercially relevant information and transmit only that. This is an important advantage with SpaceCloud^TM, says Fredrik Bruhn.

Fredrik and Mathias discuss further the possibilities with new apps in the SpaceCloud^TM framework. Fredrik suggests that the opportunities for new apps are endless.

– What we offer is, in fact, an application store with apps both for rationalizing space travel and for the data collection on Earth. As of now, we have several apps developed as a proof of concept, but this is just the beginning. In the future, we at Unibap will, of course, develop apps. Still, we also see significant benefits of having partners developing apps for the SpaceCloud^TM framework, says CEO Fredrik Bruhn, Unibap.