STAM, SKA and OptiNav are three high-tech SMEs, that have developed and validate till TRL 6 a system for active debris removal with nets, through an ESA contract (4000109361/13/NL/RA) within the Clean Space initiative. ADR1EN aims at the business opportunity generated by the need to increase safety of space infrastructures, which are menaced by the huge number of space debris lost in space. In line with our product/service roadmap and the short to medium term market needs identified by the detailed Business Plan elaborated, we have identified the SME Instrument as the most valuable tool to support the financial risks involved in addressing the remaining technical and non-technical barriers to market. The objective of the project is to validate by testing and qualify for space a scaled-up demonstrator of the First European System for Active Debris Removal with Nets (ADR1EN) and develop the necessary business and commercialisation plans to reach the market and boost the growth of our companies. The system will be pushed to TRL 7 to show its applicability to real cases and to confirm that ADR1EN is the cheapest and most reliable system for capturing free objects in space. As a result, in line with the priorities set by ESA and NASA, the system will be cost-effectively used by a community of users, namely Thales-Alenia Space, GMV and Airbus, to catch large debris in Low Earth Orbit region, representing a market worthwhile 450 MEuro, associated with the currently mapped 5,000 defunct satellites and related debris. Thales-Alenia Space, one of the largest industrial players in the space industry, has expressed its interest in the system and will act as subcontractor, to complement our capabilities and facilities. Their role is fundamental to ensure that we keep the full control of IPR while involving a potential first user in the project, keeping maximum flexibility to sell or license the technology in the next commercialisation stage.

The SAUST project aims to revolutionize aviation security and customs inspections by providing a rapid, non-intrusive and efficient alternative for vapor baggage screening at airports, being the first attempt before the Explosive Vapour Detection (EVD) European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Standard 2 and 3 (hold baggage and cabin baggage) implementation, but with a high focus on drug detection at airport arrivals where the 85% of the drugs are seized in Europe providing new technology to police and customs authorities to increase both the inspection rate, efficiency and drug database including NPS (New Psychoactive Substances). SAUST’s primary objective is to adapt an existing EVD methodology, previously tested under different conditions, mainly explosive screening of air cargo, to create a smaller, more affordable, and faster solution for luggage inspection since the requirements are totally different. The consortium is determined to address this issue through collaboration with industry, mainly SMEs, and police agents as experts who possess an in-depth understanding of the genuine requirements and constraints in customs and airport security. SAUST will develop a versatile, cost-effective, and expeditious screening technology, adapted to luggage screening, that enhances detection capabilities for a wide range of substances, including drugs and explosives, and other illicit substances like tobacco and drug precursors among many others. The ultimate goal is to develop a Technological Readiness Level (TRL) 7 operational prototype, which will bridge critical security and operational gaps in the current screening processes. In addition, the project will provide an analysis of the different scanning options for luggage in order to ensure the airport logistics without disrupting the flow. SAUST border impact has the potential to revolutionize customs inspections, providing technology to activities that currently are mainly done using traditional or manual techniques.

The ATM-EXCITE project will identify the requirements of ATM systems for civil-military aviation coordination and cybersecurity and develop a set of solutions. The project will engage with stakeholders throughout the solution development phase to ensure that the proposed solutions meet their needs. By engaging with stakeholders and using a rigorous approach to solution development, the project team is confident that it will develop effective and implementable solutions to the challenges of civil-military aviation coordination and cybersecurity. Once the requirements have been identified, the project team will design, develop, and test proposed solutions using a variety of approaches, including system design, software development, and cybersecurity testing. The project team will design system architectures for the proposed solutions. The system architectures will take into account the requirements of ATM systems, cybersecurity best practices, and operational constraints. The SESAR ER call explicitly emphasizes the need for enhanced security, confidentiality, and anonymisation in the realm of military aviation data. The call also draws attention to the vulnerabilities associated with real-time airborne position data. Our proposed solutions aim to directly address these vulnerabilities by introducing methods for verification of ADS-B data and selective encryption and model the interaction between civil and military systems in an efficient manner. This strategic alignment ensures that the solutions directly impact the priorities outlined in the European ATM Master Plan, further promoting the harmonisation of civil and military aviation in the European sky. Within the work areas of improved security of military operations and digitalisation for Airspace Management (ASM) and mission trajectory management (MTM), ATM-EXCITE proposes 5 research solutions. In a second phase ATM-EXCITE will identify synergies among them in order to propose one or several integrated solutions.

Technological breakthroughs empowered by enabling technologies hold a transformation potential that can be funneled to address industrial and societal grand challenges, like greening and digitalisation. To exploit this transformative potential, the innovation journey that leads new emerging technologies to their market-uptake shall embed since its early value-sensitive considerations, such as environmental and societal implications. With FORGING we propose a new methodology based on a value-sensitive innovation journey that breaks linear innovation trajectories to stimulate new technological visions and pathways attentive to the environment and society, and human-centred in alignment with Industry 5.0. technological frameworks. The value-sensitive innovation journey will be deployed in three phases: the technological uncovering with tech experts from academia and industry to detect early signals of emerging technologies; the societal confluence exploring the desirability and societal impact, and implications of novel technologies; the full-fledged co-creation opening to the broader community to develop concrete use cases for tech uptake. We will develop 6 Technological Pathways to transfer ideas and help industry navigate through issues related to the absorption and deployment of the use cases. FORGING methodology will be implemented by catalysing stakeholders’ community with 600 active members, from academia to industry, to CSS, to policy makers and to the broader society. We aim to organise 24 co-creation sessions, consultations with 20 policy bodies, 6 scenario workshops and Tech. and Innovation campaigns to drive tech. adoption. The FORGING Playbook and Toolbox will gather a set of facilitation guidance and materials for exploration, reflection, co-creation and evaluation of emerging technologies. These assets, jointly with the FORGING community, will sustain FORGING as a new flagship initiative on emerging enabling technologies.

What if in a near future Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes human-centric, focusing on human needs and build trustworthiness by mutual understanding? Today, millions of people worldwide suffer from deteriorated motor abilities, due to stroke, brain tumor surgery or accident. This represents a serious society challenge with missing adequate technological response. Patients need assistive devices that are trustworthy, multifunctional, adaptive and interactive, i.e., intelligent, unlike current neuroprosthetics that replace single motor impairments. MAIA proposes a paradigm shift where human-centric AI will control prosthetic and assistive devices. We will investigate and resolve critical steps towards the rapid development of such human-centric control: a radically novel intention decoder, a novel concept for trustworthy human-AI interactions, and a new type of database for acquired information from multiple sources. MAIA AI technology will decode human intentions and communicate the decoded targets to assistive devices and to the users, to ensure compliance and develop trust through natural interaction and mutual learning. The technological outcome will be a multifunctional human-centric AI controller at TRL4 with embedded trustworthy characteristics, suitable to be integrated in robotic arms, wheelchair and exoskeletons. To reach this, MAIA will investigate the principles underlying natural, fast and lean communication and new forms of combinations of neural and behavioural data beyond current data processing. MAIA’s approach will be guided by real needs of end users (patients and caregivers) through their direct involvement in the research program, and by all current knowledge from neuro-, cognitive, and social science research. The application domains of MAIA’s new paradigm span from healthcare to industry, and space exploration. We will also establish a European innovation ecosystem beyond the research labs that will stimulate highly innovative enterprises.