Objective The International Commercial Experiment Cubes Service (ICE Cubes) will provide rapid, simplified, low cost access to the International Space Station, creating the opportunity to maximise the use of the remaining lifetime of the ISS. The initial service will enable any organisation, public or private entity or individual, such as universities, academic programmes and pharmaceutical companies/research centres or private persons to perform experiments on the ISS. Furthermore the ICE Cubes service will develop special miniaturised capabilities for use in space that do not exist today, in response to market needs.Space Applications’ knowledge gained from working on a daily basis with ESA to establish scientists needs, to train astronauts, and to develop and operate payloads on the ISS will be used to realise this commercial opportunity.ICE Cubes fully supports the process of experiment development and takes care of the flight acceptance, launch manifest and operation of the customers’ experiments. The ICE Cubes service includes:• As much or as little customer support as needed, throughout the process of experiment development, flight acceptance, launch and operation of the experiments; • The ICE Cubes on-orbit facility consisting of (1) a Framework facility for ‘plug-and-play’ modular Experiment Cubes and (2) the PharmaLab, a novel multi-cube facility for pharmaceutical research;• An out of the box installable ground monitoring and control software to access experiments;• Market driven development of additional added value miniaturised equipment and facilities.This project will result in the set up and operation of the ICE Cube service, including the design and development of the ICE Cubes system, the launch of the Framework facility, the PharmaLab facility and at least one Experiment Cube developed by a university and their on-orbit and on-ground operation, as well as the initiation of an entrepreneurial ecology of supporting technology development companies. Fields of science natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsmicrofluidicsnatural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwareengineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringastronautical engineeringspacecraftengineering and technologyenvironmental biotechnologybioremediationbioreactorsmedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugs Programme(s) H2020-EU.2.1.6. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Space Main Programme H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument Topic(s) Space-SME-2014-2 - SME Instrument Call for proposal H2020-SMEInst-2014-2015 See other projects for this call Sub call H2020-SMEINST-2-2014 Funding Scheme SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2 Coordinator SPACE APPLICATIONS SERVICES NV Net EU contribution € 2 337 125,00 Address LEUVENSESTEENWEG 325 1932 Zaventem Belgium See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Vlaams-Brabant Arr. Halle-Vilvoorde Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 3 338 750,00
