Nominal Systems is proud to announce its participation in an international collaboration spearheaded by the University of Strathclyde’s Aerospace Centre for Excellence. This groundbreaking project, funded by a £1.5 million initiative under the UK Space Agency’s International Bilateral Fund, aims to harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance space operations, safety, and sustainability.
Along side Nominal Systems, the collaboration includes academic institutions such as the University of Arizona, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Waterloo, along with leading research organizations like The Alan Turing Institute. Together with commercial space companies LMO and GMV in the UK, and Columbiad in Canada, the project seeks to pioneer advanced AI technologies to elevate global space capabilities.
One of the core objectives of this initiative is to accelerate the development of AI technologies from early-stage concepts to practical applications within the space sector. This includes the formation of a new virtual Institute on AI for Space Safety & Sustainability, aimed at attracting further funding and continuing vital research and development efforts.
The urgency of this project is underscored by the growing challenge of space debris. With millions of objects, including defunct satellites and even smaller debris like discarded astronaut gear orbiting Earth, the risk of collisions and space traffic complications increases daily. Through machine learning, a key component of AI, the project will focus on predicting the movements of these objects to significantly reduce collision risks and enhance space flight safety.
Professor Massimiliano Vasile, Director of the Aerospace Centre of Excellence at Strathclyde and project lead, emphasized the critical need for sustainable space practices. "The sustainability of space use is crucial for future activities. Our reliance on launching materials continuously is not viable long-term," he stated. This project aims to develop robust and reliable AI systems that can help manage these risks, much like automation in self-driving cars enhances road safety.
Nominal Systems’ role in this partnership involves integrating sophisticated digital twinning technologies to help train and test the AI solutions developed through this initiative. Nominal Systems’ high-fidelity full stack simulations provide synthetic tracking, telemetry and space-domain awareness data, including those for anomalies and edge cases, to train AI where real world data is scarse. This will not only aid in the accurate simulation, training and testing of these AI technologies but also ensure that the solutions are adaptable and trustworthy across various space operations.
Gillian Docherty, Chief Commercial Officer at the University of Strathclyde, commented on the project's broader impact: “This initiative is a testament to our commitment to addressing such pressing issues as sustainable space development on a global scale.”
Professor Anu Ojha, Director of Championing Space at the UK Space Agency, highlighted the importance of this collaboration: “Our International Bilateral Fund enhances global cooperation, leveraging UK expertise to support new space capabilities and stimulate further investment. This project exemplifies our commitment to fostering innovative technology solutions that propel the UK as a leader in the space sector.”
Brenton Smith, Chief Technology Officer of Nominal Systems, noted the significance of the collaboration: "This project demonstrates the important place that synthetic data and advanced simulation will have for training, testing and assuring trust in advanced AI within the space domain. Nominal Systems is excited to be leveraging the fidelity, flexibility and scalability of our simulation architecture to help our partners train and test models that will support the space safety of the space industry in the future.
For more information on this initiative and to follow our progress, please visit Nominal Systems.
