Stargate Expo wraps up 5 years of research

More than 700 visitors discover innovative solutions for a more sustainable aviation at the Stargate Expo at Brussels Airport.

Over the past five years, Brussels Airport has served as a testing ground for innovative solutions to make aviation more sustainable as part of the European Stargate project. Together with 22 different partners from the aviation sector and the research community, the airport tested more than 30 concrete projects in practice. 

After five years, the programme is now coming to an end. With the interactive wrap-up exhibition in the Skyhall, we wanted to give our neighbours and other interested persons the chance to come and discover the results of five years of research.

From Extended Reality to used cooking oil for sustainable aviation fuel

During the exhibition, visitors were able to walk around a virtual airport using XR headsets. They could stand next to an aircraft during refuelling or walk amongst the electric ground service vehicles in the cargo area, whilst other visitors watched the action unfold on large screens.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) was also prominently featured at the exhibition. Visitors who travelled to the exhibition by train received a free portion of Dutch doughnuts. The deep-fried dough balls are is a fine example of how used cooking oil can be given a new lease of life as a feedstock for SAF. Increasing the collection and recycling of used cooking oil was one of the Stargate projects, as SAF helps to reduce aviation’s CO₂ emissions. Visitors were also shown a scale model of the new mobile SAF blending unit, which enables sustainable aviation fuel to be blended locally for airlines wishing to fly with a higher SAF content than the 2% imposed by the EU.

In addition, visitors could watch a demonstration featuring an autonomous electric tow tractor for moving baggage trailers and cargo dollies, and learnt about the efforts being made to improve the organisation of cargo shipments.

For children, there was a specially designed discovery trail with puzzles and interactive games.

Culmination of 5 years of innovation

The two-day exhibition marked the end of the European Stargate project. The findings and results from the projects will be shared and may contribute to making aviation in Europe more sustainable in the coming years.

The video below summarises five years of Stargate projects: