Fluid Wire Robotics, a spin-off of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, receives €2.5 million from the EIC Accelerator

Fluid Wire Robotics (FWR), a deep-tech spin-off of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, has been selected for a €2.5 million grant under the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator, the European Union’s flagship program supporting high-impact innovations developed by startups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The selection took place within the call “Innovative in-space servicing, operations, robotics and technologies for resilient EU space infrastructure,” aimed at strengthening the resilience of Europe’s space infrastructure. Fluid Wire Robotics is part of a select group of European companies entrusted with developing strategic technologies for in-orbit operations.

Robotics for orbital servicing

Space infrastructure is a critical asset for communications, navigation, and Earth observation. Most satellites currently in orbit were not designed to be inspected, maintained, upgraded, or safely de-orbited. With the growth of orbital traffic, the ability to carry out safe and sustainable in-orbit servicing operations is increasingly essential to protect high-value assets and reduce space debris.

In this context, robotic manipulation represents a key capability. Applications include satellite inspection and repair, life-extension, debris removal, and the assembly of new structures directly in orbit. Today, many space robotic systems are designed for single missions, with costs and development times often incompatible with the needs of a rapidly evolving market.

A new technological architecture

Fluid Wire Robotics offers an innovative architecture based on its patented “Fluid Wire” technology. Motors, sensors, and electronics are housed in a compact unit inside the spacecraft body, while the external arm becomes a simple and robust structure. Movements and loads are transmitted through the Fluid Wires, reducing joint mass and inertia, improving stability and precision in maneuvers, and enhancing resistance to radiation, vacuum, and thermal excursions. The modular architecture allows the system to adapt to different mission requirements, providing reusable and scalable manipulators for orbital servicing vehicles.

From prototype to flight qualification

The Fluid Wire technology has already been validated under environmental conditions representative of space. The EIC Accelerator funding will enable the design and construction of a space-qualifiable model of the manipulation subsystem, the execution of comprehensive vibration, thermal-vacuum, and radiation tests, an in-orbit demonstration to mitigate technical and commercial risks, and the initial production and scaling of flight models.

Building autonomous European capability

The manipulators developed by Fluid Wire Robotics are intended to contribute to building an autonomous European capability in orbital servicing and space logistics, strengthening the resilience of space infrastructure, promoting a more sustainable use of orbit, and reducing reliance on non-European solutions.