You may not realise it, but your MP3-player could not have been invented without technology already used in space. A small blood pressure monitor now used in the home was first invented for astronauts on the Space Shuttle. Your airbag is actually a mini space rocket. These are all examples of space technology being used in everyday life. But how do ordinary companies know they can use this technology? The European Space Agency in the Netherlands has the answer.
 

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“Spacematch” is an annual meeting between specialised space technology manufacturers and developers, and “ordinary” companies which are looking for novel ways to improve their products. Organised by the European Space Agency (ESA), based in the Dutch coastal town of Noordwijk near The Hague, Spacematch is a joint venture of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and scientific research institute TNO.

Spin-offs
Len van der Wal of TNO says many Dutch companies already use spin-offs of technology which is in use in space. “There’s a company that produces igniters for the Ariane rocket programme. To broaden their horizons they are now using the technology in ordinary fire extinguishers”.

And there are many more examples, Mr Van der Wal says. “Not just to bring their technology closer to home – literally – but also to make them less vulnerable to a possible decline in investments in the space industry”.

Transferring this knowledge to any ordinary company is not an easy task and that’s where Spacematch comes in.  “The technology is available, it’s being developed and tested. If it can be used for other applications, we simply say: Please do”, Mr Van der Wal says.
 

Three billion euros
But the money is important – even if only to recoup a little bit of the three billion euros spending budget that ESA receives annually from its seventeen member states. But that’s not the case, says Mr Van der Wal. “We don’t sell the technology for large amounts of money”, he says.

“This is not to justify our existence. Science, curiosity, man wants to know more about earth – if this spin-off is catering for these things, that’s simply the icing on our cake”.

Most companies looking for ideas at Spacematch are specialised in high tech products, mainly for medical and scientific use. But there are also more ordinary consumer products, like a video camera that was originally designed for spacecraft crew, says Mr Van der Wal.

“It was developed by a Dutch company which turned it into a consumer friendly product. It’s the first camera in the world that can shoot pictures in 3D. I’m sure that within a number of years, TV and movies will be shown in 3D. This video camera will undoubtedly take a big place in that development”.

Perfect match
It’s just one of many examples of two companies finding their perfect match in space technology. It also shows how everyday life is influenced by space technology that to many still feels as futuristic as any Space Trek episode.

But Mr Van der Wal feels he’s on a mission to convince these non-believers that space is around us – all the time: “Understanding earth as an eco-system, studying climate change, the size of the hole in the ozone layer – all this is relevant technology to answer these kinds of questions”, he says.

“It wouldn’t be possible without space technology. So although it’s far away, the results of these developments are quite close and within everyday reach. That’s what we want to expand here at Spacematch”.

Photo by NASA