Ibadan, 11 June 2024. – During the State of the Space Industrial Base 2024 Conference (SSIB2024) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, iBOSS unveiled its second space system interface technology, the iFEX (intelligent Fuel EXchanger), an innovative fuel transfer interface solution. The patented iFEX is designed to transfer all types of space propellants and offers unique technical features and operational benefits.
Consistent with the technology maturation and commercialization approach of its flagship multi-function connector, iSSI (intelligent Space System Interface), iBOSS is moving toward advanced testing with key stakeholders and an early in-orbit
demonstration of iFEX.
Thomas Schervan, the startup’s co-founder and CEO, described the iSSI technology as a sort of “USB for space.” Schervan explained it allows pairs of space systems — such as configuration, coupling or robotics technologies — to connect and share power and data. The goal of the connector, he said, is to add more flexibility to companies or agencies’ operations in space,
particularly in the area of in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing, known as ISAM.
The German company tested the technology in space on an experimental mission run by Santa Clara, California-based Skycorp Inc., an orbital logistics company, throughout 2022. The months-long Intelligent Space Systems Interface Flight Qualification Experiment tested ISSI alongside a Skycorp computer and a radiation sensor.
Around the same time, iBOSS announced its follow-on space servicing product, the German company announced that it has established a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, iBOSS.space US LLC, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the New Mexico International Trade Alliance.
The density of research centers around Albuquerque, including AFRL, and Albuquerque’s central location in the “space valley,” which stretches from Texas up through New Mexico and into Colorado, is another reason iBOSS chose
the Duke City.
