Following our deployment in Hungary, our MEMS-based seismic nodes have been deployed at the Konin site in Poland as part of the URGENT project.

This time, the challenge is different.

While geothermal water is known to be present, uncertainty remains around the continuity of the reservoir. To help reduce that uncertainty, project partners are conducting a 2D seismic survey aimed at improving subsurface understanding and identifying fracture zones and faults.

Working alongside Seismic Mechatronics BV, our nodes have been deployed to capture extremely subtle ground vibrations enabling high-quality seismic measurements in noisy environments and at the scale required for deep imaging.

For us, field trials like these are where our MEMS technology proves its value outside the lab, under demanding conditions, and across different geological settings.

Our deployment team, Matthijs Heeres, Aran Dokoupil and Artur Moj, also got to experience how the compact size of our new nodes can improve deployment efficiency, making large-scale seismic acquisition faster and more practical.

This is the second of three major field trials within the URGENT project, each bringing new challenges and new opportunities to validate advanced sensing technologies for the future of geothermal energy.

Next stop: Belgium!

More information: URGENT project

The project has been funded under the hashtag#HorizonEurope programme of the European Commission.

VITO | AGH University of Krakow | dGB Earth Sciences | Euroquality – Tinexta Innovation Hub | Innoseis Sensor Technologies | MOL Group | realtimeseismic | Seismic Mechatronics BV

What once started in the lab is now being deployed in field trials!

We’re extremely proud to announce that our new sensors are being deployed at the Batta site in Százhalombatta, Hungary, as part of testing within the URGENT project.

During this campaign, our seismic nodes will be deployed across a survey area to capture extremely subtle ground vibrations, enabling detailed imaging of subsurface structures in noisy environments.

To generate the seismic signal for the survey, Seismic Mechatronics’ E-Vibe system will produce controlled seismic waves using its low-noise vibroseis truck, the Hurricane.

Together, the system will allow researchers to capture high-quality seismic datasets and improve subsurface imaging for geothermal exploration.

Together, the goal is to capture high-fidelity seismic data and evaluate how new sensing approaches can improve subsurface imaging for geothermal exploration.

These trials are part of the URGENT project, which aims to accelerate the development of geothermal energy to decarbonise heating and strengthen energy independence. Identifying viable reservoirs, however, requires sensing technologies capable of detecting extremely subtle subsurface signals.

More about the urgent project: https://urgent-project-heu.eu

The project has been funded under the #HorizonEurope programme of the European Commission.

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬:
VITO | AGH University of Krakow | dGB Earth Sciences | Euroquality – Tinexta Innovation Hub | Innoseis Sensor Technologies | MOL Group | realtimeseismic | Seismic Mechatronics BV

The surface of the moon is seen in this image captured by Blue Ghost following its lunar landing. 
Firefly Aerospace

Congratulations to Firefly Aerospace for successfully landing the Blue Ghost on the Moon!!!!

On March 2nd, 2025, this historic achievement marked a significant milestone in commercial spaceflight and opened new horizons for lunar exploration.

Blue Ghost Mission 1, launched on January 15, 2025, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, carried ten science and technology instruments to the Mare Crisium region near Mons Latreille. Over a 45-day journey, the lander traveled approximately 2.8 million miles before its successful touchdown. The mission aims to operate these payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days), conducting groundbreaking scientific experiments—including drilling into the lunar surface, studying lunar dust, and capturing a total eclipse.

What Does This Mean for Innoseis ST?

We’re especially excited about this achievement because our MEMS sensor technology, known as Regolith, will soon follow! In 2026, our highly sensitive space-grade seismometer is scheduled to arrive on the Moon as part of Fleet Space’s SPIDER Payload, aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost 2 mission. Regolith is designed to collect and analyze geological and seismic activity on the lunar surface, aiding in the search for ice deposits.

Our sensor was selected for this mission due to its unique combination of high sensitivity, small size, and low power consumption, which is a testament to our commitment to innovation and excellence in seismic sensing technology. This mission will demonstrate the feasibility of creating compact geophysical instruments, supporting the complex and evolving needs of future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.

We’re proud to contribute to the future of space exploration alongside such pioneering teams.

Our journey is just beginning!

More information about our mission to the Moon: https://innoseistech.com/from-the-netherlands-to-the-moon-innoseis-sensor-technologies-is-aiming-to-make-its-mark-the-lunar-surface/

Europe needs to decarbonise its heating sector, and geothermal energy can significantly aid this transition by providing heat for buildings and industries, especially in urban and #industrial areas. However, its deployment is limited due to insufficient knowledge about geothermal resources.

To reduce pipeline costs and heat losses, geothermal sources must be located close to heating networks. This requires a deep understanding of geothermal #reservoirs near and within urban areas. #Seismic exploration is crucial, but it hasn’t been widely conducted in cities due to historical focus on oil and gas, as well as technical limitations.

Starting June 2024, URGENT is revolutionising geothermal exploration in urban and industrial settings, enhancing the #reliability of subsurface data in various geological conditions.

URGENT aims to accelerate the decarbonisation of Europe’s heating sector by advancing the use of geothermal energy in urban areas. The project tackles the challenges of urban exploration by developing sustainable and affordable solutions for seismic exploration of geothermal resources.

What URGENT delivers: 

• 2 novel seismic exploration technologies (by Innoseis Sensor Technologies and Seismic Mechatronics BV)
• Machine Learning (ML) post-processing methods (by dGB Earth Sciences)
• A risk management toolbox (by AGH University of Krakow and VITO) for project risk and performance management
• Integrated exploration strategies (by realtimeseismic and all partners) for de-risking geothermal projects

Test sites include:
1. VITO site in 🇧🇪 Belgium, led by VITO
2. Konin site in 🇵🇱 Poland, led by AGH University of Krakow
3. Batta site in 🇭🇺 Hungary, led by MOL Group

💰 Total budget: ~€4M

Innoseis ST’s contribution

Innoseis Sensor Technologies is developing innovative seismic receivers designed to be small, smart, and sensitive. These receivers, equipped with highly sensitive microchip accelerometers, will integrate with Innoseis ST’s low-power wireless communication platform, enabling low-impact geothermal exploration in urban environments.

Stay tuned for more project updates! Read more here https://lnkd.in/eJGwnBzZ

This 42-month Research & Innovation project is funded by the 🇪🇺 European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme, addressing urban exploration challenges through #sustainable and #affordable seismic exploration solutions for geothermal resources.

In a recent announcement by Fleet Space Technologies, the company has been awarded a contract by the Australian Space Agency to build geophysical devices for locating water deposits on the Moon as part of the Moon to Mars Initiative’s Demonstrator Program. This contract highlights Fleet Space Technologies’ commitment to pushing the boundaries of exploration by utilising cutting-edge seismic technology to learn more about the subsurface of the Moon, particularly at the Moon’s South Pole.

By leveraging the latest advances in seismic technology and research, the collaboration between Innoseis Sensor Technologies and Fleet Space Technologies represents a major advance as humanity continues to progress toward its vision of exploring worlds beyond Earth. The cutting edge MEMS sensors used on Fleet’s SPIDER device will enable the collection of precise seismic data providing invaluable insights into lunar geology and seismic activity. SPIDER is short for Fleet’s Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration and Research. It’s a miniature seismic station, designed to record seismic data that can help characterise the lunar regolith and assist in the search for ice deposits – vital for sustaining human life beyond Earth.

Dr. Mark Beker, CEO at Innoseis Sensor Technologies, expressed his excitement about this collaboration, stating, “Our partnership with Fleet Space Technologies represents a major milestone in scientific exploration and technological innovation. We are honoured to contribute our expertise in high-precision seismic sensing to a mission that will advance our understanding of the lunar geology and beyond.”

“We are excited to work with Innoseis Sensor Technologies as we build geophysical devices to locate water deposits on the Moon as part of our contract with the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Initiative Demonstrator Program,” added Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO of Fleet Space Technologies. “We believe the learnings and discoveries that are enabled by seismic data collection on the Moon will be critical to uncover insights into sustaining human life beyond Earth in the years ahead.”

For more information about Fleet Space Technologies and the Moon to Mars Demonstrator Program, check out their recent announcement here.

About Innoseis Sensor Technologies:
Innoseis Sensor Technologies is a leading provider of advanced motion sensing solutions. Renowned for its high-precision seismic sensors and inertial measurement devices, Innoseis Sensor Technologies is committed to revolutionising the field of inertial sensing and exploration across various industries.

About Fleet Space Technologies:
Fleet Space Technologies, a leading Australian space company, is revolutionising humanity’s search for critical minerals, space exploration, and defence with its satellite-enabled solutions and seismic array technology (EXOSPHERE BY FLEET®). Headquartered at the national centre of Australia’s space industry in Adelaide, Fleet has expanded its global footprint to the US, Canada, Chile, and Luxembourg with over 100+ employees worldwide.

The Einstein Telescope is an advanced gravitational-wave detector that was designed to detect and observe gravitational waves. Predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, Gravitational waves are defined as waves or curves in the composition of spacetime (mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum). These are caused by violent cosmic events where (enormous) objects like black holes or neutron stars collide. 

Unlike its predecessors, LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and Virgo, the Einstein Telescope is planned to be an underground observatory with an enhanced sensitivity. Placing the observatory underground will affect the precision of gravitational wave measurements due to the reduction of environmental disturbances like seismic noise and other vibrations. The enhanced sensitivity will provide the opportunity for gravitational wave detection from a wider range of cosmic events and over longer distances. Furthermore, the more sensitive telescope will observe new sources such as the fusion of intermediate-mass black holes, and plans to give more detailed insights into astrophysical phenomena like blackhole information, neutron star collisions and the behaviour of matter in gravitational events. 

Even though its sensitivity will provide a multitude of opportunities, there are some challenges that come with this innovation. The underground location of the observatory and the extreme sensitivity can cause wave detection to be disturbed by external factors such as seismic and atmospheric motion. To minimize these disturbances, elaborate mechanical seismic attenuation systems have been designed to isolate the detectors from these unwanted vibrations. However, seismic motion also modulates the local gravitational field in a way that can not be mechanically suppressed. These signals may interfere with the gravitational wave signals arriving from astrophysical sources. This noise, known as Newtonian, or Gravity Gradient noise will limit the performance of gravitational wave detectors. The best know approach to solving this problem is active noise suppression – like a noise cancelling headphone – for the seismic activity nearby the detector. If the seismic wave fields can be measured, the effects can be subtracted from the detector output. This is where Innoseis Sensor Technologies’ solutions can play a major role.

How can Innoseis Sensor Technologies contribute to the success of the ET? 

Innoseis Sensor Technologies is able to contribute to the success of ET through the development of specialized sensing technology. The company’s highly sensitive MEMS accelerometers will be able to detect the slightest seismic vibrations in sensor networks around the detectors main components. Furthermore, the ability to detect the seismically induced fluctuating density distributions underground will also be crucial, this is where gravity gradiometry comes into play.

Gravity gradiometry is a geophysical technique used to measure variations in the Earth’s gravitational field. Unlike traditional gravity measurements that provide information about the strength of gravity at a specific point, gravity gradiometry focuses on measuring changes in the gravitational field’s gradient or rate of change. The technique involves using specialized instruments known as gravity gradiometers. These instruments are extremely sensitive to minute changes in gravitational acceleration. By measuring the differences in gravitational acceleration across a distance of roughly one meter, the instrument can provide data on how the gravitational field changes across a given area. 

Practical applications

Gravity gradiometry is particularly useful when studying areas with complex subsurface structures or when traditional gravity measurements might not provide sufficient detail. The collected data can be processed and analyzed to create detailed maps that reveal subsurface density variations, which, in turn, provide insights into the underlying geological and environmental conditions. 

Therefore, gravity gradiometry can be useful in applications important to the global issues related to energy supply and climate change, such as; 

1. Seismic monitoring of underground C0₂ storage: Innoseis specialises in advanced seismic sensing technologies. These are crucial for monitoring the subsurface integrity and detecting any potential leaks at CO₂ storage sites, ensuring the safe and effective storage of captured carbon.
2. Mineral exploration: This technique aids in detecting variations in density and can be used to locate mineral deposits, essential ingredients for batteries and electrification.
3. Geothermal exploration: Gravity gradiometry can be used to study variations in temperature and density below the Earth’s surface, providing insights into geothermal reservoirs.
4. Environmental studies: It can help monitor ground stability and detect underground voids, contributing to studies related to sinkholes and land subsidence.
5. Civil Engineering: Gravity gradiometry can provide information about the composition and structural integrity of the Earth’s subsurface, aiding in construction and infrastructure projects 

What has Innoseis Sensor Technologies achieved so far?

A gravity gradient is an extremely subtle signal, and while you could measure this with a large elaborate setup, we set ourselves the goal to develop a device which can be deployed, moved and maintained with ease. At Innoseis we like to challenge ourselves with the aim to further technology and make groundbreaking solutions available for everyone.

The main approach to the gravity gradiometer is a pure mechanical system. By relying on mechanics rather than electronics, we aim to enhance long term operation, robustness and reducing potential points of failure. Of course there is still high-end electronics required to process the signal produced inside the device, but they can be placed either in a static controlled environment or even offloaded away from the main device. Compared to current solutions our device is designed to be installed by a single person, for the purpose of a single measurement or for long term monitoring, and therefore is required to be small and lightweight. 

Over the course of the past 24 months our engineers and modeling experts have worked on mathematical models and created prototype setups to fully understand and verify each aspect of the mechanical and signal chain characteristics. This with the aim to identify the main challenges and noise sources within this novel device. Often times our engineers are challenged by the performance and availability of measurement equipment and suitable test environments. One can imagine that such precise measurements can not merely be done on a desk as during validation it is desirable to be able to measure at least an order of magnitude better than the signal to be observed.

These stringent requirements, the need for specialised and purpose build setups, and precise measuring equipment are what motivates the Innoseis team and allows us to push the boundaries of technology. The achievements so hare are no small feat and we can report that Innoseis was able to get a thorough understanding of the real life implications of such a small and industrialised gravity gradiometer. Based on the insight gained within the ETT project so far improvement have been identified that demonstrate gravity gradiometer performance by an order of magnitude better than the current state-of-art for comparable devices. 

About the Einstein Telescope Technologies Project

The Einstein Telescope is a future underground observatory designed for detecting gravitational waves, potentially located at the Netherlands-Belgium-Germany border. The “Einstein Telescope Technologies” initiative involves 12 institutions and companies collaborating on cutting-edge technologies, subsurface research, and spin-offs for various sectors. It addresses challenges like vibration-free cooling, sensor improvement, and noise reduction. The project’s broader applications include innovations like GPS. The effort aims to position Dutch industry for ET-related orders and strengthen regional collaboration. The telescope fills a gap in current observatories’ sensitivity to gravitational waves, enhancing our understanding of the universe. The project is made possible by the following organisations: 

Our new MEMS accelerometer provides acceleration data with ultra-low noise levels. This sensor has significant advantages for satellite positioning, as demonstrated by simulations on low-thrust orbital manoeuvres. With this new technology, we can achieve greater accuracy in autonomous positioning and navigation, which has numerous applications in fields such as aerospace, robotics, and autonomous vehicles. By improving the accuracy of these systems, we can enhance safety, reduce costs, and increase efficiency.