2022 has been a massive year for the space industry. We’ve taken our first steps back to the Moon with the successful splashdown of ARTEMIS I [LINK] and NASA’s Dart mission has demonstrated we have the ability to re-direct an asteroid to protect the planet we live on [LINK]. Meanwhile, the commercial space industry has been heating up, with 2163 satellites launched this year [LINK] to solve help global problems spanning food security, ubiquitous communications and climate change.
At Nominal Systems, a core part of our mission is to make it simpler, safer, and more sustainable by providing the digital infrastructure that enables organizations to turn world-changing mission concepts into in-orbit capabilities. As I reflect on 2022, our contributions to the space community and where we're going in 2023, here are some of the highlights:
A Vision Come to Life: In 2020, Brenton and I had a vision of redefining the space mission toolbox by bringing together state-of-the-art simulation, the Internet-of-Things (IoT), gaming technologies and the cloud to make space simpler, safer and more sustainable. In 2022 we brought that vision to life with the release of our satellite digital twinning platform, Nominal Editor, with a focus on accelerating concept design and making functional testing workflows automated and distributed. It's exciting to see where we started and how far we've come in such a short time.
Left: Concept image from first pitch deck. Right: Nominal Editor in action after 1 year.
Growing Partnerships and Customers: Our partners, customers and use cases grew throughout 2022 (and continue to grow!). UK Space Command selected our satellite digital twinning architecture to form the baseline modelling & simulation framework to support future mission design and training [LINK]. We built partnerships with Universities [LINK][LINK] and commercial space companies [LINK] to enable better mission design and testing. We delivered a unique and transformative mission design workshop at the inaugural Young Space Explorers event [LINK]. We're now working with our partners to put the digital infrastructure in place to enable those organizations to operate at scale responsibly and safely. #WatchThisSpace
Young Australian's using Nominal Studio to develop their own mission concepts at the YSE event.
Thought Leadership & Industry Recognition: Space sustainability is a big passion of mine. A core goal at Nominal is to ensure ongoing, sustained and secure access to space for all. It is a goal that requires community engagement, from young space professionals to international military leaders. So leading a workshop and panel at the 10th Space Generation Fusion Forum [LINK] focused on establishing new norms of operating in the evolving space domain with outcomes to be presented by SGAC to UNCOPUS has to be one of my highlights of the year. It's work like this, where we put words into action, that differentiates us. It's why our CTO, Dr Brenton Smith was named the 2022 Australian Space Industry's "Rising Star of the Year" [LINK]. It's why Nominal was a co-winner of the Australian Technology Showcase [LINK] and recipient of the ACT Chief Minister's awards for "Advanced Technology Company of the Year" and "2022 Exporter of the Year" [LINK].
International Military Leaders Panel at 10th Space Generation Fusion Form
Team Growth: Most importantly, none of this would have been possible without our fantastic team. The team's enthusiasm, energy, and a shared vision for how we can enable the safe and sustainable development of space that has driven our success to date. Coming from a research background, it's been a tremendous growth experience for me to transition from a builder of complex tools to a builder of teams, but it's also been one of the most rewarding. I can't wait to see what we do together in 2023.
Where to Next:
If 2022 was a year of transformation, 2023 will be a year of acceleration. We’re on a mission to help the space industry scale sustainably by providing the digital infrastructure needed to make the design, testing and operation of complex systems simpler, safe and more sustainable. We’re working with partners to bring a new level of transparency into space operations, enhance space cyber resilience, and we’re releasing new tools to support in-orbit operations and train the next generation of space professionals. We’re aiming to double or triple the team and go global.
If you’d like to know more, drop me a message on LinkedIn [LINK] #LetsGetNominal
