During Italian Tech Week 2023the conference on new technologies, innovation and the world of startups which took place at the OGR in Turin from 27 to 29 September, the prize was awarded First Round to the best startup of the year. It was the winner Astradyne, reality from Bari, which has developed a new technology to combine fabrics with electronics, in order to apply the concept of origami to the space industry.
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“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” It is V. Hugo’s aphorism written in blue on his curriculum vitae Alessia Gloder, CEO of Astradyne. Born in 1992 in the province of Vicenza, “I have a double degree in aerospace engineering, the first obtained at the University of Padua, the second in England at Cranfield University, with a specialization in propulsion”. Not only. Alessia also has a degree in clarinet, which she has taught for several years as her other passion, she is a two-time TEDx speaker and is attending the Executive MBA in Business Innovation at MIB Trieste – School of Management.
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After an initial work experience in Padua and then in Germany, Alessia decides to return to Italy and has been leading Astradyne since 2022. The startup develops deployable structures for the space industry by integrating rigid-flexible electronics with textile material. From this technology was born SolarCubea solar panel that opens like origami and which, thanks to a fabric substrate, is up to 30% lighter, three times more compact and with 50% more power than current solutions on the market.
The Story of Astradyne
Astradyne was born in Puglia in 2021, an area full of opportunities for those who want to operate in the aerospace supply chain, from the meeting of Alessandro Buscicchio, Vittorio Netti, and Davide Vittori, at the time doctoral students at the Polytechnic of Bari, and from their desire to commercialize the previous technical knowledge developed at the most prestigious academic centers in the world, including NASA-JPL in California and SICSA in Houston. But it is in 2022 that the turning point occurs, Alessia Gloder learns about Astradyne, she senses the potential of the technology that underlies the startup and decides to get on board, placing herself at the helm of the company.
What does he do Astradyne
Astradyne develops deployable structures for the aerospace industry. The core technology is an innovative and advanced design and manufacturing process for integrating rigid-flex electronics with textile material.
In detail, the startup has developed an innovative technology called FRET (Flexible, Reinforced Electronics with Textile), capable of using textile material to reinforce flexible electronic boards (Flex PCBs) and thus making new applications possible.
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The first application created by Astradyne is SolarCube: a solar panel with an origami-inspired design that is able to resolve the typical limitations of solar panels in aerospace applications: high mass and low capacity to produce energy. SolarCube has a surface area to energy produced ratio of 1:7 which allows it to enormously increase the capabilities of space vehicles and at the same time reduce their total mass.
Astradyne does not plan to sell its technology independently, but integrated into products such as the SolarCube, for which a patent application has been filed. The startup has ambitious goals, also imagining projects that go beyond the solar panel such as suits for pilots and astronauts, wearable devices, deployable antennas, inflatable space modules, and other applications in the aeronautical and terrestrial sectors.
The company recently closed a 400 thousand euro investment round led by Galaxia, the National Technology Transfer Hub for Aerospace, created by CDP Venture Capital in partnership with Obloo. “As objectives, Astradyne has to demonstrate the technology in orbit at the beginning of 2025, expand the product portfolio and create job opportunities for high-level profiles in Puglia. We want to attract talents and brilliant minds to bring them back to Italy. On the other hand, most of our team is made up of talents who have returned to Italy”, concludes Alessia.