SKYLABS VESOLJSKE TEHNOLOGIJE DOO

Their core work

SKYLABS is a Slovenian space technology SME based in Maribor that builds and integrates nano-satellite systems, with demonstrated work on distributed satellite constellations for high-energy astrophysics monitoring. Beyond space hardware, the company has expanded into industrial digitalisation — specifically applying data engineering principles to circular economy product lifecycle management. Their work spans the full range from low-Earth orbit sensor platforms to structured industrial data architectures, suggesting a systems engineering core that transfers across domains. With only two known EU projects, their scope appears deliberately niche and technically deep rather than broad.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

SKYLABS entered H2020 as a space technology actor, contributing to a scientific pathfinder mission for detecting cosmic high-energy events with nano-satellite constellations — firmly in the aerospace and astrophysics domain. By 2021, their second project had shifted entirely to terrestrial industrial digitalisation, focused on data architectures for circular economy product management. This is a marked pivot: from orbital hardware and astrophysical data to factory-floor digital threads, suggesting the company is repositioning its systems engineering and data management capabilities toward industrial markets.

SKYLABS appears to be moving away from pure space science toward industrial digitalisation, likely applying embedded systems and data engineering expertise built in aerospace to the circular economy and Industry 4.0 sectors.

How they like to work

SKYLABS has participated exclusively as a consortium partner, never as coordinator, across both known projects — consistent with a specialist SME that contributes specific technical capability rather than leading programme management. Their two projects generated 45 unique partners across 14 countries, indicating they work in large, internationally diverse consortia. This suggests they are comfortable in complex multi-partner environments but play a defined, bounded technical role within them.

Despite only two projects, SKYLABS has built connections with 45 unique partners across 14 countries — an unusually broad network for an organisation of this size. Their reach spans both the European space research community (via HERMES-SP) and the industrial digitalisation ecosystem (via CircThread).

What sets them apart

SKYLABS occupies a rare intersection between space technology and industrial digitalisation — a combination that is genuinely uncommon among Slovenian SMEs. Their hands-on experience with nano-satellite data systems gives them credibility in telemetry, embedded data pipelines, and distributed sensor architectures that translates into industrial IoT and digital twin contexts. For consortium builders, they offer a technically deep partner with aerospace-grade systems thinking applied to emerging circular economy challenges.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HERMES-SP
  A prestigious ESA-linked scientific pathfinder mission for a nano-satellite constellation detecting gravitational wave counterparts — SKYLABS' highest-funded project (€324K) and clearest signal of space engineering depth.
• CircThread
  Represents a strategic pivot into circular economy digital infrastructure, showing SKYLABS' ability to transfer data engineering capabilities from space systems to industrial product lifecycle management.