CeiliX Founding Story
Space Technology, Applied to Industry.
What began as a space research project is now transforming the future of industrial automation.
Between 2022 and 2023, as part of a joint research initiative between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Dr. Torsten Siedel developed a groundbreaking overhead transportation technology to support astronauts under simulated lunar gravity. The innovation resulted in eleven European patent applications and laid the foundation for an entirely new approach to movement in industrial environments.
The founders recognized the opportunity to transform this untapped space into an intelligent infrastructure for material handling, robotics, and industrial automation.
It soon became clear that the technology had applications far beyond space exploration. While manufacturers continue to optimize every square meter of production space, one valuable resource remains largely unused – the ceiling.
In 2023, Richard Aked, CEO of Space Applications Services, initiated the spin-out of the technology to accelerate its industrial adoption. With the founding of CeiliX in 2024, the patents and technological expertise were transferred into a dedicated company. Together with Lisa Seipp (CFO), Dr. Torsten Siedel (CTO), and Mathias Entenmann (CEO), an experienced leadership team set out with a clear mission: to transform a scientific breakthrough into a scalable industrial platform.
Die Idee
From the very beginning, the vision extended far beyond a single product. The goal was to create a modular overhead platform capable of enabling manual material handling, autonomous robotics, and industrial automation on one shared infrastructure.
Development progressed rapidly. Within months, the first market-ready solutions were introduced. In early 2025, the first customer system was certified and deployed. Shortly thereafter, CeiliX unveiled autonomous prototypes in collaboration with Bosch Rexroth and Kassow Robots at leading international trade shows, followed by the first pilot installations with industrial customers.
The future starts at the ceiling.
Today, CeiliX is pioneering a new generation of intelligent overhead infrastructure. Its modular platform transforms unused overhead space into a scalable foundation for material handling, robotics, and industrial automation—without requiring additional production space.
Because the future of intralogistics isn’t on the floor. It begins overhead.
