The European Space Agency and AI Sweden are opening a space lab in Gothenburg

AI Sweden and the European Space Agency, ESA, will open a lab for advanced technology development, Φ-lab Sweden (pronounced as the Greek letter “phi”), for AI in new space applications and applications for Earth observation. The lab is the spearhead of a major European collaboration on space innovation and will be inaugurated in the spring.
 
The lab brings together industry, investors and researchers to strengthen the European space research and space industry sector in what is known as Earth observation and AI. This work is complemented by the work that takes place in the Swedish Space Data Lab, which includes the Swedish Space Agency, Luleå University of Technology, RISE and AI Sweden.
 
What attracted ESA to Sweden is AI Sweden's knowledge and the cluster that works with an AI technology called edge learning. The technology creates the opportunity to train AI models directly in e.g. satellites. This saves money and resources because you do not have to send the massive amount of data that the satellites collect down to earth.
 
“It is incredibly gratifying that we get such a large investment in space and AI to Sweden. We look forward to working with ESA to strengthen Europe's and Sweden's innovative power in the space sector”, says Martin Svensson, Co-Director AI Sweden
 
AI can use satellite data to identify, for example, floods, illegal fishing, deforestation, algal blooms and environmental disasters.
 
“We’re very excited to be getting the first pilot of ESA Φ-labNET off the ground, and I
see the partnership as a prime opportunity to collaborate very closely. AI Sweden will grant our researchers access to their resources, and we’ll also share ESA Φ-lab’s knowledge and experience. The agreement is not only mutually beneficial for ESA and AI Sweden, but crucially will also help keep European transformative innovation at the forefront of AI in space”, says Géraldine Naja, Director of Commercialization, Industry and Procurement.

AI Sweden and ESA will collaborate on current research resources, funding and infrastructure.

Read more about the collaboration and edge learning in space.

About ESA's work with Φ-lab
As part of the Boost Green and Digital Commercialisation priority of its Agenda 2025 strategy, and building on the experience of the existing Φ-lab@ESRIN with its focus on delivering transformative innovations aimed at market adoption, ESA is creating a dynamic network of Φ-labs across ESA and Europe. The Φ-lab@Sweden is the first to be established within this larger network.

Get in touch with Ebba Josefson Lindqvist, Project Manager Data Factory, if you want to learn more about the Φ-lab in Sweden and how you could get involved.