Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich welcomes new partner Starlab Space
Starlab Space - a joint venture between Airbus, Voyager Space, Mitsubishi Corporation and MDA Space - is the first major industrial partner to join the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich. A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed on Monday in Zurich between the partners Starlab Space GmbH i.G., the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich Foundation and the newly established Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Access to an airfield, large areas for the necessary infrastructure, strong research partners such as the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, the newly founded Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein based at Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich and the generally innovative business location of the Canton of Zurich convinced Starlab that Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich was the right partner.
Starlab Space plans to start business activities in the Zurich Innovation Park
The end of the International Space Station (ISS) is currently planned for 2030. Starlab is to succeed it as a private, industry-driven space station. The aim is to ensure a seamless continuation of previous research and scientific activities. At the same time, Starlab will open up low-Earth orbit for private companies. In the long term, it should also be possible to implement products and applications that can be manufactured to a higher quality in the unique conditions of weightlessness. These include, for example, semiconductors, glass fibers and biomedical products such as medicines, human tissue from stem cells for transplants or tumor organoids for precision medicine.
With the Memorandum of Understanding signed today, Starlab Space plans to commence business activities in the Innovation Park Zurich. Starlab could establish and operate a Payload Operations & Control Center, a Center of Excellence for Payload Development and Operations and other Starlab ground segments focusing on biotechnology, biomedicine and pharmaceuticals at the IPZ. This should form the basis for an ecosystem in which space experts, researchers and scientists, established industry and innovative start-ups and spin-offs work closely together in direct exchange. This would make the greater Zurich region a European location for the global Starlab network with industry and research partners. Another location is the George Washington Carver Science Park in Ohio, USA, and other locations, for example in Japan and Germany, are also currently being prepared.
Space Valley Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Successful industrial development of the lower earth orbit requires sufficient production and transportation capacities. These must be available at economically reasonable prices. In addition, an efficient transfer of knowledge from research institutions to practical applications is crucial. The Canton of Zurich has recognized the importance of this development. By decree of the cantonal government (No. 372/2024), "Space" was declared one of the canton's three innovation lighthouse projects.
With the rapid international developments, the "Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein", based in the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich and headed by Prof. Oliver Ullrich, was formed in 2024; a new, internationally oriented, regional center supported by a broad coalition of academic and industrial partners from German-speaking Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The center's strategic goals include promoting the use of aerospace in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, harnessing research successes for society and the economy and positioning the region in the global space economy.
Cooperation between industry and science
The Canton of Zurich and the Greater Zurich Area GZA form a strong economic area in Europe. Globally active companies, leading start-ups and the two top universities ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich contribute to this. Both universities are also long-standing partners of the Zurich Innovation Park. Starlab and the newly founded "Center for Space and Aviation" are making the region even more important. The Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich, the Canton of Zurich and the entire region will become a hub for the new space economy in Europe with access to exponentially growing markets.
Source: www.innovationparkzurich.com/de
