We’re honored to be backing ElevationSpace, a space startup that originated from Tohoku University in Japan. Their mission is to create a world where everyone can live in space and elevate your future. Specifically, in the initial phase, they will replace space experiments (medical, biological, physical science, etc.) on the International Space Station (ISS), which is to be decommissioned due to aging. Subsequently, unmanned/manned space transportation technologies will be deployed using recyclable satellites.

ElevationSpace Will Replace Experiments in International Space Station (ISS)

Human space travel is gradually becoming a reality, and humanity is steadily expanding its space of activity to space. One of the future business areas in space is the provision of microgravity. Particularly in the fields of research and development and manufacturing, the microgravity environment is said to take an important role due to its difference from the earth’s environment. However, at present, it is still difficult for users to easily obtain the microgravity environment for the following reasons;

• Rising costs due to the retirement of theInternational Space Station (ISS)
  In 2022, the ISS is the only space station above Earth that can provide microgravity for extended periods of time, and it is currently funded by the national budgets of several countries, which allows it to be used at a current level of cost. According to JAXA, the cost of an experiment in the Japanese Module in ISS reaches about a few decades of million dollars, depending on the purpose of use. However, it has not yet been confirmed that it will continue to operate beyond 2025. Therefore, it is expected that the quota for the conventional low-cost use of microgravity space will decrease.
• High Hurdles for Manned Space Environment Utilization Systems
  The hurdles to space environment utilization using manned systems are high due to the complex safety review criteria. In addition, the development requirements are much more strict, and many experiments are difficult to conduct. Furthermore, the low frequency of launches and recoveries hinders full-scale commercialization.
• Limitations in the number of users
  Currently, the emerging operational space countries that are not involved in the joint operation of the ISS do not have the opportunity to conduct experiments in space. This limits the expansion of the circle of space utilization.

Considering these difficult situations, ElevationSpace is trying to provide the solution that delivers the following benefit for the people who would like to replicate the microgravity environment for their activity;

• Lower cost than the conventional method
• Higher usability of the service
• Democratizing the use of microgravity environment

ElevationSpace aims to provide such an innovative solution by providing unmanned small satellites. The step of their future service is shown in the figure below;

• STEP 1: Put your payload on the satellite
• STEP 2: Launch the satellite:
  The launching will be conducted by a third-party rocket launching company such as SpaceX in the US.
• STEP 3: Conduct uncrewed activities/experiments
• STEP 4: Return to the Earth (Re-Entry)
• STEP 5: Recover the satellite and deliver the payload to users

Meet the Team at ElevationSpace

ElevationSpace is a DeepTech startup from Tohoku University, Japan. It was founded in 2020 by Co-Founder & CEO, Ryohei Kobayashi, who was a Master’s student in Engineering. He won 1st place in Japan and 2nd place in the world in the international competition for Martian architecture, which NASA is affiliated with. CTO & Board member Mr. Kuwahara is an Associate professor at Tohoku University who has developed and operated many small satellites and is also a technical advisor of a Japanese space startup, ALE.

Plug and Play is excited to partner with ElevationSpace, which we believe will boost science experiments and transport humans to space in the future.