Delivery of first Laser Projection System to European Southern Observatory Technology developer and producer Demcon shipped the first Laser Projection System together with TNO last week. Its destination is the European Southern Observatory (ESO), where TNO and ESO will test the system. In total, Demcon company Focal and TNO will build nine systems for ESO’s Very Large Telescope and Extremely Large Telescope in Chile. The systems project ‘laser guide stars’ into the atmosphere to help the large telescopes better focus on distant astronomical objects. This gives astronomers sharper images of the universe. They hope to make new discoveries, for example about the evolution of the universe after the Big Bang and the formation of stars and galaxies.

consortium of Demcon kryoz, Cooll and the University of Twente will develop an advanced cooling system for the Einstein Telescope. This enormous observatory will measure gravitational waves, which Albert Einstein predicted more than 100 years ago. It may be housed beneath the hilly landscape of the Dutch-Belgian-German border area. The consortium will receive 2.6 million euros over a period of three years from the R&D scheme for the Einstein Telescope, financed by the Dutch National Growth Fund. Vibration-free cooling to very low temperatures is necessary to detect the very weak signals from space. The three parties have a lot of fundamental knowledge and industrial expertise in vibration-free cooling. They are now using this to make the measurements much more accurate, for a better understanding of extreme events deep in the universe.

Recently, TNO reported the successful testing and commissioning of its compact laser satellite communication terminal. This establishes space flight heritage for TNO’s groundbreaking technology, which is also core to FSO Instruments; the company that brings this TNO technology to the market. “This milestone provides a strong foundation for our ambition to provide our customers with reliable and efficient lightweight, high-performing laser satellite communication technology in series production,” FSO Instruments’ Gus van der Feltz, Senior Business Developer, comments.

The Young Precision Network (YPN) - part of the DSPE community -organises events for young professionals and students. On Thursday 7 December 2023, just three weeks after the Precision Fair, YPN organised yet another activity, this time a visit to Demcon high-tech systems in Best (NL), in the Brainport Eindhoven region. As a full-service design house, Demcon has an extensive mechatronic engineering track record in a wide range of markets and applications, from which their Best office focuses mainly on high-tech systems, life sciences & health, and data-driven solutions.

Today a decentralized electrolyser was unveiled at Groningen Airport Eelde (GAE). A demonstration model to produce, after upscaling, green hydrogen as emission-free fuel for light aircraft, drones and ground equipment at the airport in the future. This afternoon, under the watchful eye of 80 attendees, Marieke Abbink (director of New Energy Coalition) unveiled the electrolyser, a co-production of Northern producers and researchers.

With the ambition to remove large amounts of CO₂ from the atmosphere, Carbyon is developing technology to capture CO₂ from air. Demcon and Carbyon built the first prototype machine together, marking an important step toward further development and scaling of the system.