Business Enquirer Magazine Issue 122 | GOMSpace | Feb'24

CATAPULTING THE DANISH NEW-SPACE MARKET INTO ORBIT

CATAPULTING THE DANISH NEW-SPACE MARKET INTO ORBIT T

Celebrating 17 years in business in 2024, GomSpace is known for being the oldest business in the NewSpace industry, despite its young age.

he Denmark based nano-satellite technology innovator has been acknowledged for far more than its age, though.

In 2023, MarketsandMarkets recognised GomSpace as one of the most important players in the NewSpace market.

An exciting sector, MarketsandMarkets forecasted the global nanosatellite and microsatellite market size to grow from $2.8 billion in 2022 to $6.7 billion by 2027.

“We’re very proud of our position in the NewSpace market,” said GomSpace CEO, Carsten Drachmann, “as well as an achievement for the business and our team, it puts Denmark on the map, and shows the world that the country has an exciting NewSpace sector”.

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Established in 2007 by “two Grumpy Old Men”, or GOM, GomSpace is a leading global supplier of high-end nanosatellite design, integration, and manufacture.

Its technology includes orbit control systems, mission payloads, power systems, communication systems, command, and data handling.

Focussing on low orbit satellites, Carsten highlighted the advantages for its customers “low orbit satellites can be developed at a much quicker rate, at just 1% of the cost compared to satellites in the geo stationary orbits, $1 million compared to $100 million,” he explained.

Although the NewSpace industry is in its infancy, as the oldest company in the sector GomSpace is now on the pivotal precipice of start-up to a profitable business.

GOMSPACE

GOMSPACE PROJECT DIRECTED BY: LEE NEWTON ARTICLE WRITTEN BY: LAURA WATLING

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Carrying the Toolbox to Success Brought into the company in March 2023, Carsten has joined GomSpace as CEO to help guide its transition from start-up to commercial success.

And the numbers speak for themselves in terms of Carsten’s impact since joining.

2023 is set to be a record year in the topline, with a clear and documented evolution in cash and profitability in the last three quarters.

“We are taking a two-step approach to the growth of GomSpace. Currently we are stabilising the business whilst it’s in the later stages of a startup, and then we will seek a healthy, profitable growth,” he said.

An engineer by background, Carsten started his career at IBM, followed by Philips Radio Communication, but credits Nokia, where he spent 20 years, as where he really cut his chops.

“I moved into leadership very early into my career, with colleagues joking that they’d “lost a bad engineer but gained a good manager”, which is the opposite of what usually happens,” Carsten laughed.

Further to Nokia, he took on management roles at International Copyright Enterprise (ICE) and DataPath, both in Sweden, where he gained his name for being an expert in business turnarounds.

“At DataPath I managed the turnaround in the Swedish office from a loss-making business, into a success story by reprioritising its efforts whilst reducing staff significantly. This resulted in a doubling of revenue and a positive cashflow within nine months, which transformed the office into the most profitable entity in the company,” he shared.

Carsten’s career journey has seen him live in five countries and manage people across 30, highlighting his multi-cultural experience for helping him to become a valued leader.

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GOMSPACE “My experience around the world has led me to appreciate the importance of accepting diversity, the value of people and the strength in finding a common purpose, despite differences. Once you have established a people focus and defined values in the business, the technology and business aspects will follow”, he explained.

The CEO added that his career experience has enabled to curate a strong “leadership toolbox” to help businesses find success.

Treasuring its Employees to Treasure its Customers Throughout his career, Carsten has learnt an appreciation for “Smart versus Healthy”: “You can hire the most experienced people for the job, but if you don’t have the culture right, the business won’t be the success it could be. Culture is the key to a sustainable business,” he said.

GomSpace is using its start-up culture as a baseline to catapult it to success.

“There is a definite “can do” attitude within the business, which is supported by values of clarity, respect, and teamwork,” shared Carsten.

It goes without saying that ability is vital to the success of a NewSpace business.

GomSpace is focused on a culture of learning, enabling junior staff to learn from those with more experience in the industry, and on brining different disciplines together to learn from each other, bringing a better customer experience.

“In addition to learning the technical aspects of the business, our team also has the opportunity to learn from our business journey from a start-up to a commercially successful business. We want our team members to carry that experience with them and treasure it throughout their career, whether it’s

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GOMSPACE with GomSpace or moving on to another business,” Carsten explained.

One thing that was clear in Carsten’s conversation with Business Enquirer: People are critical to the business’ success.

Flight Heritage Ultimately, GomSpace’s mission is to make nanosatellites the preferred choice for customers who have demands for professional mission critical radio based surveillance and communications solutions.

The business has facilities in Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, France, and the USA, has become known as a premier supplier of nano-satellites and accompanying technology.

“The technology that is built on the ground acts differently when it’s out of our atmosphere. GomSpace proudly has the longest experience in space, or flight heritage, than any of its competitors,” explained Carsten, “that, coupled with our knowledge and reliability, are the key reasons customers choose to work with us”.

The business has built a portfolio of long-term relationships, including one with Unseenlabs from France. Working with the world leader in radio frequency data and solutions for maritime domain awareness, the GomSpace satellite technology supports Unseenlabs and the French government in locating fishing boat traffic in British and French waters.

The technology enables boats to be located even when they manually “go dark”.

GomSpace collaborates closely with the European Space Agency (ESA), having signed an agreement in 2019 for the deep-space mission, Juventas.

The 6U nanosatellite, part of ESA’s Hera mission, is set to pioneer radar measurements on an asteroid, unraveling its internal structure. As a passenger on the ESA Hera spacecraft, Juventas will journey to the Didymos binary asteroid system, deploying to investigate the formation, interior, surface, and dynamical properties of binary asteroids, embodying significant mission objectives.

Moreover, GomSpace has actively collaborated with universities and industrial partners to complete numerous research projects. These collaborations are a clear indication of the company’s commitment to continuous learning and innovation, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of the nanosatellite industry.

GomSpace is well positioned to handle the increased demand for its applications. This, coupled with Carsten’s focus on people, then technology and business, means that the future is looking stratospheric for the business.

www.gomspace.com

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GOMSPACE www.gomspace.com

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