Braunschweig woman is “Founder of the Year” TU Braunschweig spin-off protects orbit from space debris - CEO Kristina Nikolaus honoured

Kristina Nikolaus, co-founder and CEO of the Braunschweig start-up “Okapi Orbits” and graduate of the Technology-Oriented Management programme at TU Braunschweig, has been named Founder of the Year at the German Startup Awards 2024. Her aerospace company has developed software that helps prevent satellite collisions in space and thus reduces further space debris. The AI-based technology predicts collisions and calculates evasive manoeuvres.

Kristina Nikolaus is founder of the year 2024. Photo credit: Startup Verband

Users of the technology include the European Space Agency (ESA), rocket manufacturers and companies from the insurance sector. The jury praised the start-up as a “pioneer in the field of sustainable space travel”.

The new space company was co-founded by Kristina Nikolaus in 2018 at the age of 23 together with researchers from TU Braunschweig. From 2018 to 2019, the TU Braunschweig spin-off received funding and technical support as part of an EXIST start-up grant (mentor: Prof. Enrico Stoll).

The German Startups Association honoured the brightest minds in the German start-up scene for the fifth time on 16 May 2024. More than 500 guests gathered at the Tipi am Kanzleramt in Berlin for the festive gala. The event opened with a keynote speech by Robert Habeck.