Xinetis, Winner of the 2019 Spacefox contest

XINETIS

On January 2, 2019, Spacefox organized a scientific competition to allow young entrepreneurs to benefit from aid of 3000 euros to help finance their scientific project related to the space field. In a few days, we received no less than a hundred fabulous projects. Among them, the work of Clément Linglois and Anthony Dréano stood out.

The idea of ​​the project of these two students from ENSMA (National School of Mechanics and Aerotechnics located in Poitiers) is to participate in the effort necessary to clean up space via the deorbiting of space debris around the Earth, by creating their own structure: Xinetis.

Their ambition is as follows:
• In the short term: make CubeSats structures available to the various space organizations
• In the medium term: provide these same space organizations with all the equipment that will be present in the CubeSats
• In the long term: to deorbit space debris ranging from 1 to 10 millimeters towards our atmosphere or bring them to graveyard orbits

Indeed, since 1957 and the putting into orbit of satellites like Sputnik (sputnik for short!), or the American Telstar, the number of space debris has continued to increase around our Earth. This debris is directly linked to human space activities. Whether they are simple bolts, complete stages of launchers, various metal parts from explosions or even small paint chips, many non-operational objects are found mainly in low or geostationary orbit around the Earth, and can then disturb future space missions, like what we saw in the film Gravity, released in 2013.
The challenge is therefore to avoid the point of no return, as illustrated by Kessler's syndrome. This concept is a scenario planned by Donald J. Kessler in 1978 (consultant at NASA). In this scenario, the volume of space debris in low orbit due to space pollution reaches a threshold above which objects in orbit are frequently struck by debris, and break into several pieces, exponentially increasing the number of debris. and the likelihood of impacts. Beyond a certain threshold, such a scenario would make space exploration almost impossible, or even the use of artificial satellites over several generations.

Through this project, Spacefox has committed to funding part of the tests that will be used to assess the reliability of the structure of future CubeSats.

In March 2021, we were lucky enough to be hosted by CNES in Toulouse to discuss issues related to space pollution. We were then presented with the initiatives being developed to address this problem.
It was also an opportunity for us to meet the founders of Xinetis.

Interview with Clement Linglois:

How long have you been working on the project?

Clément Linglois: We have been working on the whole project since September 2018, however we have changed our objective for feasibility reasons. Indeed, we were selected for the project initially called Clean Orbit. This consisted of creating a system for deorbiting space waste implanted in nanosatellites. However, the realization of this project was too ambitious for three 1st year students, which is why we staggered our project. We are now working on the design of the exterior structure of a CubeSat.

What is a CubeSat?

Clément Linglois: CubeSats are small standardized and highly regulated satellites, whose basic principle is the superposition of 10x10x10 cm cubes. Thus, we call 1U, a structure of 10x10x10 cm. For each cube that is stacked, we add a "U". A 2U structure is therefore the combination of two 1Us placed side by side.

What is the genesis of the project?

Clément Linglois: At the beginning of September 2018, during a presentation amphitheater in our ISAE-ENSMA school, two people allowed us to discover PEPITE (note: Student Center for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship). Following this presentation, with Anthony, we had the desire to launch ourselves into entrepreneurship. On the basic project, Clean Orbit, we were accompanied by a third person, Yassine. Following our desire to change the short-term objectives, he preferred to withdraw from the project. However, he provided us with valuable assistance in carrying out the bibliography and other research tasks.

What is your goal?

Clément Linglois: In the short term, we want to create the exterior structure of the CubeSats. This part is progressing very well because we are entering the prototyping phase. This phase will surely be delayed by a few months because of the virus that appeared at the start of 2020. Once the structure is completed, the objective will be to manufacture all the components necessary to send CubeSats into space. A good part of these will be electronic components, an area that we do not master with our training. This makes the adventure even more exciting on this point. Finally, once the nanosatellites have been entirely produced by us, we will develop the space waste deorbiting system.

Finally, why did you name your company Xinetis?

Clément Linglois: Xinetis is a derivative of Métis, a Greek goddess of cunning and intelligence. We added an X in the name to emphasize that we are a technology company!

https://xinetis.fr

An interesting project with a promising development that we will follow closely at Spacefox.
If on your side, you want to support the project, you can join Xinetis on their different social networks:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/XinetisCOA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Xinetis-113909533710845
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xinetis
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xinetis

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