August 2026
Mapping the sky together:
Leice and LiCuSpace enter into a Strategic PartnershipQingdao (CN) / Wismar (DE) – Chinese LiDAR manufacturer Qingdao Leice Transient Technology Co., Ltd. and German high-tech startup LiCuSpace GmbH are entering into a comprehensive strategic partnership. The aim of the cooperation is to combine the innovations of both companies into a globally unique offering for atmospheric measurement technology: the broadest LiDAR device portfolio on the market, united in an AI-powered system solution that maps the sky as a complete digital twin.
Two Companies, One Origin: Science
At first glance, nine time zones separate Leice and LiCuSpace. At second glance, far more unites them. Both companies are at home on the coast – Leice in the port city of Qingdao on the Yellow Sea, LiCuSpace in the Hanseatic city of Wismar on the Baltic Sea. And both emerged from the same source: decades of excellent academic LiDAR research.
Leice was founded by professors and experts from the Ocean University of China and the Hefei Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and builds on more than three decades of research into laser remote sensing of the atmosphere and the ocean. LiCuSpace industrializes decades of process development from Northern Germany’s top-level research centered around the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics and its partners. Two teams that speak the same language – the language of photonics, atmospheric physics, and precision measurement.
Leice: From Research Pioneer to International Systems Manufacturer
Leice is one of the pioneers of marine and atmospheric LiDAR technology in China. The company has built an exceptionally broad product range covering nearly all fields of application of laser remote sensing: Doppler wind LiDARs for meteorology and wind energy, aerosol and Raman LiDARs for environmental and climate monitoring, temperature and humidity profilers, nacelle LiDARs for wind turbines, and floating buoy LiDAR systems for offshore wind power. Core products are certified by international institutions such as WindGuard and DNV.
Leice products are thoroughly proven in industrial use. They are regarded as reliable, powerful, and innovative – and Leice’s economic development and industrial integration reflect exactly that.
With modern series production, high development speed, and a growing international service network, Leice is consistently evolving from a device manufacturer into a global system provider and service partner. This is precisely where the partnership with LiCuSpace comes in.
LiCuSpace: German Research Depth, Industrialized
LiCuSpace GmbH was founded to transform the results of decades of German atmospheric research into marketable products. The result is the LidarCUBE – a highly compact measurement system that enables continuous online measurements of wind and temperature up to an altitude of around 100 km. The LidarCUBE combines several innovations, including laser technology, optical modules, and an intelligent housing, for which patent protection has been applied.
To make optimal use of the LidarCUBE’s data, LiCuSpace developed the deep learning software FullSky. FullSky enriches elementary LiDAR data, fuses it with data from a wide range of additional sensors, integrates visual imaging of the sky – and thus delivers a complete, precise, and accurate digital twin of the sky. Patent protection has also been applied for FullSky.
FullSky’s need for decentralized reference points for this digital twin gave rise to a further product line: LidarONE, a simple, maintenance-free, modular LiDAR device.
LidarONE modules can be combined into the system solutions LidarFLEX and – specifically for wind energy – LidarCONE.
The Partnership in Detail
The cooperation between Leice and LiCuSpace comprises five interlocking building blocks.
One portfolio, one platform. LiCuSpace integrates the complete Leice product lineup into its FullSky system solution. Customers thus gain access to the broadest LiDAR device offering on the market – from compact single sensors to high-performance systems – seamlessly embedded in a shared, AI-powered data platform.
Manufacturing with industrial strength. Leice’s industrial capability is used for the series production of all LiDAR products. German development thus meets a highly scalable, proven manufacturing base – for short delivery times, reliable quality, and competitive costs.
Software on a common basis. LiCuSpace adapts its hardware-level software solutions to the Leice device platform – for all suitable devices in the lineup. In this way, both product worlds grow together technologically.
Joint commercialization, joint growth. Leice and LiCuSpace jointly implement and commercialize LiCuSpace’s innovations. In return, LiCuSpace supports Leice in adapting, marketing, and launching its devices in the established industrial nations – with local presence, regulatory know-how, and an understanding of the requirements of European and North American customers.
A global research pool. Leice and LiCuSpace each maintain strong ties to the research communities of their regions. In the years ahead, as LiDAR technology develops into mass products, it will trigger a wealth of new research and innovation. Leice and LiCuSpace will closely interconnect both research landscapes on a global scale and open them up systematically.
A global research pool, emerging directly from industrial needs, will be formed as an interface to research and a motivator for researchers. This research pool will considerably strengthen our shared vision: developing LiDAR products into mass products that help people in many areas of life – improving quality of life and advancing sustainability.
East Meets West: A True Synergy
This partnership is more than a supply and distribution agreement. It brings together two innovation cultures that complement each other ideally.
From the East comes dynamism: speed in development and industrialization, scaling power in manufacturing, the ability to turn an idea into a series-ready product in a short time. From the West comes depth: research excellence grown over decades, creative system architecture, and a federally shaped culture of long-term, careful balancing of interests – the art of combining many partners, standards, and perspectives into robust, lasting solutions.
Where these two strengths meet, a true synergy emerges: cutting-edge technology that is quickly available, industrially manufactured, scientifically sound, and sustainable in the long term.
Not East or West – but the best of both worlds, united by a shared scientific origin and the shared ambition to make the sky measurable.
What Customers and Partners Gain
For users in meteorology, wind energy, aviation, environmental monitoring, the maritime economy, and other industries, the partnership means: a complete device portfolio from a single source, homogeneous system solutions that fit seamlessly into industrial process chains, an end-to-end AI data platform instead of isolated point solutions, shorter delivery times thanks to industrial manufacturing, local contacts and service in Europe – and a digital twin of the sky that makes weather predictable and decisions more reliable.
Wind energy benefits in particular: with LidarCONE built on Leice’s manufacturing base and the certified Leice wind LiDARs integrated into FullSky, an end-to-end offering emerges – from site assessment and operational optimization all the way to sector coupling with weather data.
About Leice
Qingdao Leice Transient Technology Co., Ltd., headquartered in Qingdao, China, was founded by professors and experts from the Ocean University of China and the Hefei Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Building on more than 30 years of research, Leice develops and manufactures a comprehensive lineup of LiDAR systems for atmospheric and ocean observation, meteorology, wind energy, environmental monitoring, and other fields of application. Core products are internationally certified, including by WindGuard and DNV. Leice is developing into an international systems manufacturer and service provider. More at www.leice-lidar.com/en
About LiCuSpace
LiCuSpace GmbH is a German high-tech company based in Wismar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. LiCuSpace industrializes the results of decades of atmospheric research in Northern Germany. Its flagship product LidarCUBE measures wind and temperature up to an altitude of around 100 km; the deep learning software FullSky fuses LiDAR, sensor, and image data into a complete digital twin of the sky. The modular LidarONE device family, together with the system solutions LidarFLEX and LidarCONE, forms the decentralized basis of FullSky. Patent protection has been applied for key innovations. More at: www.licuspace.com