Last week was highly productive for us. As anticipated, we attended the IAC 2024 conference in Milan from October 15 to 18. The opportunity to attend such a conference, see a wide array of companies, and lectures, and meet people from various scientific fields in space exploration was truly invaluable. It’s also worth mentioning that we had the chance to present our work on anomaly detection algorithms implemented on FPGA through the ESA OPS-SAT satellite experiment, showcased by our founder Filip Novoselnik during his presentation.
The first day began on Tuesday morning when we arrived in Milan and headed to the MiCo center, the conference venue. Upon entering and seeing the schedule and scope of the exhibition, it was clear this would be a unique experience. Numerous companies from different countries lined up, with key leaders and major supporters such as ESA, the Poland Space Agency, UAE Space Agency, Indian Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency, which hosted the event. Among the notable participants were also American representatives like NASA and Lockheed Martin, who stood out with the wide range of technology they are developing. Particularly interesting to us were our partners, whom we visited on the first day to discuss our collaborative project with ESA further. Additionally, many other companies from various countries presented potential solutions and contributions to the space program, opening up possibilities for future collaborations.

The following day’s schedule was filled with meetings with different companies in the B2B area. As the day progressed, we exchanged more experiences, offers, and technologies with other participants, both in the B2B space and throughout the exhibition area near the booths at the MiCo Center. Additionally, there were lectures we attended several times in the auditorium, enriching our knowledge about space. As the second day came to a close, we reflected on the insights and contacts we had gathered, preparing for the important day ahead, highlighted by our presentation.

Being a Croatian representative at the conference was a big deal for us, especially since we had the opportunity to present our work with a paper titled “FPGA-based Onboard Anomaly Detection for OPS-SAT Telemetry Utilizing Statistical Methods” at the IAC 2024 conference.

In conclusion, our participation in the IAC 2024 conference in Milan was significant and educational for our team. The presentation by our Filip Novoselnik on FPGA-based anomaly detection for the OPS-SAT satellite opened new opportunities for collaboration and networking with experts and companies in the space industry. This success has further motivated us to continue our research in this field.