After Joining the Space Economy Observatory, what’s next for Altair?
In June, Altair signed a research agreement with the Politecnico di Miliano, one of the largest technical university in Italy, that will make the company part of the Space Economy Observatory. Now, Altair speaks to engineering.com about its plans to contribute its expertise in artificial intelligence, simulation, high performance computing (HPC) and product development to the final frontier.
Andrea Maria Benedetto, managing director of Italy at Altair believes the company can offer a broad set of tools to those that are part of the space economy, including startups.
“We want to support them as they launch and be a complete partner for them, sharing technologies that are relevant to their activities. Beyond simulation, our offer has other key pillars such as machine learning and data analytics. We tie all these competencies to enterprise computing and AI,” says Benedetto.
Benedetto says there are three typical phases of development for aerospace companies: the design phase, the testing/refining phase and the operational phase.
He explains, “The design phase involves simulation, in which companies create a great deal of data to understand different scenarios with performance. Altair helps companies understand the value of data in development. The testing phase is [increasingly] based on digital twins to refine the design space knowledge. This requires developing a model from data that must be both collected by sensors or through simulation to predict performance and prevent undesired behaviors. As [the model] can be made also in real time, companies can now react quickly and adjust their deployment strategies. The third phase involves managing the stream of data. This occurs when the satellites are in place and the technologies are working. From the IoTs to sensors on the edge, to the application of AI and ML tools at both locations, Altair is a player that supports companies. [It] manages and gives sense to the multitude of data received by such complex systems to extract value from them.”
The Observatory Helps More Countries Get Involved in Space Exploration
Solidifying the importance of the Space Economy Observatory is critical for the democratization of space access. Benedetto says groups like the Observatory allow companies, startups, and universities in countries other than China, Russia, and the United States to understand the opportunities behind the space economy and prepare to take advantage of them.
“We bring tools in a simple way to development engineers, the professionals who design and test new products. Altair assists by explaining the data, the need to develop decision trees, and the importance of analyzing synthetic data—data that is manufactured artificially rather than generated by real-world events. This sets the stage for an ML engineer to respond quickly and explore different options,” says Benedetto.
Helping aerospace companies cut waste is critical. All companies that operate in the space economy have significant budget, resource and time limitations.
“There’s no time to navigate all of the options, especially in the preliminary phase. Our help allows companies to use AI, ML and data analytics to refine models quickly,” says Benedetto.
Paolo Colombo, regional director of sales and marketing for Altair, Italy, says that one of the key problems for the space economy is how to add launchers that bring satellites to space.
“Launchers need to be reusable, lighter and require less fuel. In the last three years, we began to think more about sustainability. The only way to design launchers effectively is through simulation,” says Colombo.
Colombo says that manufacturers now need to simulate as many launches as possible.
“When we see the curve of data getting flat, then we know we’ve simulated enough. We do a launch that may fail. The simulation driven by AI allows us to explore a wider and more complex design space,” says Colombo.
What the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed
Initially, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed efforts in space exploration. Benedetto says that even though Italy is still dealing with waves of COVID, the critical part of the pandemic is over.
“We’re starting to see a return to business as usual. We are able to interact in person again. This is important to provide on-site services again. For many medium businesses, these are vital. [They’re] a way to absorb knowledge and build experience,” says Benedetto.
Colombo says the European Union (EU) and Italy have provided a substantial amount of funding to the space economy over the past few years. It appears the trend will continue.
According to Aljazeera, in 2020 the 22 European Space Agency (ESA) member governments committed to pay 14.4 billion euros ($16.1 billion) over a five-year budget period. This was about a 21 percent boost over the agency’s three-year budget in 2016.
“The idea is to invest in space access and observation, including telecommunications projects. These are strongly linked to the EU’s overall pandemic recovery plan. The numbers show the last three years have seen both an acceleration in development and an increase in funding,” says Colombo.
Getting It Right the First Time
As Altair listens to the smaller companies it seeks to mentor, it wants to optimize the technology that is sent into space.
“Once it’s up there, it’s hard to fix. Altair wants to be a part of making aerospace technology smaller, lighter and more reliable. It’s not worth it to reduce the weight of a device to the bare minimum at the cost of the instrument performing poorly later,” says Benedetto.
Benedetto adds that it is an asset that Altair’s data architecture is always open. This means that its software can collect and normalize data from all types of devices. The software can also work in a platform together with other codes that are written in-house.
“Working with us means working with all our partners. Altair uses its software to interface with any server, computer-aided design or data model. This has been the spirit of the company right from the beginning. We’ve always had to communicate with a variety of codes and other players,” says Benedetto.
A final factor that helps Altair guide smaller companies is its experience with developing commercial and military aerospace systems.
“We have a history of mission management. Typically, we use extremely sophisticated tools to measure weight and balance dynamically throughout the mission. Knowing the weight of an aircraft at every phase in the mission helps us improve simulations and design the final version of the craft better,” says Benedetto.
Colombo adds that Altair’s years of communication with customers that purchase multiphysics software helps facilitate companies sharing models and data.
“Altair supports startups by learning what they need and offering them a specific program to reduce their costs while (also sharing) how to use a complete suite of interconnected tools. Thanks to the Observatory, a lot of small companies and startups are [getting] the opportunity to share their experiences and be part of a network. I consider [that] essential—to play in a sector that has been dominated by a few big players. [We’re] in the middle of a very interesting revolution,” says Colombo.