Barcelona-based Sateliot leads the second generation of 5G satellites

Catalunya takes another step in its race to conquer space. And it does so hand in hand with one of the leading Catalan companies in the sector: Sateliot. The Barcelona-based company is a pioneer in Europe in space telecommunications and this Monday it took another step in this direction with the inauguration of the first European 5G Satellite Development Center, which will act as its new corporate headquarters in the Catalan capital.

This new facility represents the launch of a new dimension for the company, marking the beginning of its industrial phase. This new center is the first in Europe dedicated to the design, development and verification of 5G satellites for all mobile operators (3GPP) and represents a strong economic, technological and talent boost for Barcelona, positioning the Catalan capital as one of the reference poles of New Space worldwide.

The event also served to present the company's second generation of satellites, named Tritó in homage to the Montseny newt ---an endemic amphibian species of Catalunya---, as a nod to 100% Barcelona-made technology. For the development of the new satellites, Sateliot will also have a new clean room of more than 100 m², an operations room and two laboratories, which will enable a qualitative leap in capacity and performance thanks to the greater operational power of its payload.

According to the company's CEO, Jaume Sanpera, in a conversation with The New Barcelona Post, the new devices are no longer nanosatellites, but minisatellites: devices weighing 150 kilograms and four meters long. These characteristics, the executive assures, make it possible for them to have a capacity up to 16 times greater than the previous ones, expanding the range of action and the number of connected devices.

"The new satellites will be able to connect with mobile phones and there will be no need to buy any antenna, but users will be able to be on the move," Sanpera states. In fact, they will not only be able to offer connectivity to IoT devices, but they will also be able to connect mobile phones with data, voice and video services. In addition, they incorporate dual-use capability that allows critical applications to be deployed in areas of security, civil protection and defense, a feature demanded by the European Union.

Even so, Sanpera recalls that the mobile coverage offered by these satellites is not as good as current towers, but rather is "a support network." However, in an emergency, such as a DANA or a general blackout, it would allow calls and text messages to be made to a large part of the population and would facilitate the work of emergency services. At the same time, the new devices will allow mobile coverage in remote areas of the territory where it is difficult to get coverage, such as in the high mountains.

The next milestone, Sanpera assures, is to ensure that a mobile phone can switch connection from an antenna to a satellite without noticeable interference or a call being cut off. These events may not take long to be seen in our daily lives, as the Barcelona-based company has already launched six of its new satellites —the last four in August— and plans to launch five more throughout next year.

In this regard, Sanpera assures that they have already successfully made the first stable connection between a 5G device and a satellite. This connection was made on September 20 and made Sateliot the first company in the world —and so far the only one— to achieve it, Sanpera tells The New Barcelona Post.

A promising future