Four projects won funding for industrial research and development from the Space Florida-Israel Innovation Partnership Program, a $2 million recurring joint fund to support research, development and commercialization of aerospace and technology projects that benefit both Israel and Florida.
The program, started in 2013, is a partnership between Space Florida, the aerospace and spaceport development authority for the State of Florida and the Israel Innovation Authority, which works to advance the Israeli innovation ecosystem.
This year, 20 joint proposals were submitted by teams of for-profit companies in Florida and Israel, and four teams won awards.
“Since its inception in 2013, the Israel-Florida collaboration on space-related technologies has managed to produce great projects that could truly make a difference in the aerospace sector,” said Israel Innovation Authority chairman Ami Appelbaum. “This year we were excited to note an increase in the number of applications submitted compared to last year, as well as the noteworthy high quality of those projects. We strongly believe that the partnership between Florida and Israel, and the success of this collaboration between companies from both countries will further strengthen the ties between the two countries and economies.”
The winning projects include:
• Craig Technologies (Merritt Island, Florida) & MTI Wireless Edge (Israel) for the development of an innovative antenna that can be used for space-ground and space-space applications.
• Everix Optical Filters (Orlando, Florida) & SolCold (Israel) for innovative nanoparticle materials using a dichroic filter to cool down objects using sunlight.
• Redwire Space – formerly Made In Space – (Jacksonville, Florida) & StemRad (Israel) for a project focusing on manufacturing personal radiation shielding vest components from recycled polyethylene.
• LightPath Technologies (Orlando, Florida) & RP Optical Lab (Israel) for designing an Opto-Electronics Thermal Imaging (OETI) module to be installed on nano/micro satellites.
The next joint call for applications is expected to be released in September 2021.