Belden Inc. has named G-SPACE the winner of the third annual Joseph C. Belden Innovation Award, recognizing its machine learning platform designed to accelerate product development for microgravity environments.
G-SPACE’s platform converts complex experiment data into actionable insights for research and development and manufacturing teams. By enabling faster analytics, optimization and prediction, the technology aims to help organizations scale microgravity experiments into more repeatable and lower-risk processes.
The award is named after Belden founder Joseph C. Belden and this year’s recognition marks the 150th anniversary of his birth. His innovative work and patents helped establish Belden as an early leader in telecommunications and laid the foundation for the company’s current portfolio of complete connection solutions.
The Joseph C. Belden Innovation Award highlights emerging technologies capable of creating practical impact across industries including manufacturing, data centers and energy. The award particularly focuses on innovation at the intersection of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT), as connected industrial enterprises increasingly adopt advanced digital technologies.
G-SPACE received the award on July 28, 2026, during the Joseph C. Belden Innovation Summit and Award held at the Historic Dearborn Inn in Dearborn, Michigan. Centered on the theme “Innovation in the IT/OT Converged World,” the event brought together technology leaders, industry innovators, customers and partners to discuss the changing industrial technology landscape.
Discussions at the summit examined how technologies including edge infrastructure, industrial networking, private 5G, physical AI, network automation, cybersecurity and IT/OT orchestration can address real-world operational challenges.
Commenting on the recognition, Ioana Cozmuta, Founder and CEO of G-SPACE, said, “Being recognized as a 2026 finalist is a tremendous honor, especially in G-SPACE’s first year participating in the Belden Innovation Summit. The program thoughtfully combined technical insight into IT/OT challenges with leadership, transparency, and the human side of innovation – because technology creates possibilities, but people and trust make progress happen. The Summit opened my eyes to new ways G-SPACE can connect terrestrial and space-based IT/OT systems.”
Belden President and CEO Dr. Ashish Chand highlighted the importance of translating innovative ideas into practical business outcomes.
“From the beginning, the Joseph C. Belden Innovation Award was created to shine a spotlight on companies that turn bold ideas into real-world impact – often by leveraging limited resources with limitless ambition,” said Dr. Ashish Chand. “This year’s finalists embodied that spirit through innovation, partnership, and the ability to bring critical worlds together, especially across IT and OT. Congratulations to G-SPACE, our 2026 winner, for its groundbreaking machine-learning platform accelerating microgravity product design and helping teams move faster from experimentation to scalable, repeatable outcomes.”
Alongside G-SPACE, PROLIM and Thread were selected as the other finalists. PROLIM entered PROMIS, an AI-native digital manufacturing platform for Industry 4.0 that combines AI, IoT and automation to provide real-time visibility and predictive insights. Thread presented an AI-powered workflow platform designed to automate the transition from sales to delivery for network infrastructure projects, with the goal of reducing delays, rework and time-to-service.
The finalists were selected by a panel of industry experts from a competitive pool of submissions. Entries were assessed according to factors including innovation, business value and sustainability impact.
The recognition of G-SPACE demonstrates the growing role of machine learning and IT/OT convergence in developing advanced industrial applications, while highlighting the potential of data-driven technologies to transform complex experimentation into scalable and repeatable processes.
