When we are lucky enough to see a shooting star in the sky, on a cloudless night, we think we are witnessing a natural phenomenon ---shooting stars or meteors originate from comets, which leave particles in space that burn up when they enter Earth's atmosphere at high speed---. We even dare to make a wish or look for metaphysical meanings in this mirage. Unfortunately, many times what we are seeing are not pieces of comets that have been left behind but small satellites ---created by humans and sent into space--- that, after three or four years of service, have reached the end of their useful life and fall, also entering the atmosphere very quickly and disintegrating.
[subscribe_newsletter_esp]
These small satellites or nanosatellites orbit at low altitude, about 500 or 700 kilometers from Earth, and are expected to revolutionize the economy, boosting a new space sector, cheaper and more accessible than that of the large satellites that dominated until now. The so-called new space will allow obtaining more data from the observation of the planet and developing new services based on advanced technologies. It will also serve for the integration of nanosatellite communication networks and 5G technology, which will provide homogeneous coverage for the Internet of Things (IOT) ---continuity of services even when leaving cities--- and complement the capabilities and coverage of mobile operators. That is why the Government has decided to create the New Space Strategy of Catalonia, with the aim of promoting this high value-added industry, which is expected to generate 1,200 new jobs and 280 million in turnover by 2025.
"It's an opportunity," defends the director of Technology and Innovation at the i2CAT Foundation, Sergi Figuerola, one of the entities that is part of the strategy. "It's a sector that will mature quickly and a window of opportunity will open for the first to position themselves," he remarks. For Figuerola, Catalonia has a space sector with several leading agents, such as the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), the Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) and the Institut Cartogràfic, but he assures that jointly they can be "much stronger." In this alignment of interests that the Government seeks to make a qualitative leap and generate a powerful ecosystem, Catalan companies such as Sateliot, Pangea Aerospace and Zero 2 Infinity are called to lead the strategy and consolidate their position, in addition to encouraging others to join this sector and settle in Barcelona.
Sateliot and Open Cosmos
Sateliot, founded and directed by Jaume Sanpera, wants to create a constellation of nanosatellites in the coming years. The company wants to put a total of 100 small satellites into orbit between 2021 and 2022, with an investment of 100 million euros and the forecast of making the first launch in March of next year from Kazakhstan. Sateliot expects to start invoicing from 2022 and reach 350 million euros in 2025. To achieve this, it has completed two capital increases, for a value of 2.4 million euros, and is immersed in a round for ten million that it wants to close in the first quarter of next year.
The objective is to use these space devices to offer IoT connectivity services outside cities, where this coverage currently does not reach. That is, to connect devices such as a truck that constantly has to communicate to a control unit the temperature or humidity of its containers, even when it moves away from urban environments. Sateliot will provide this coverage extension service to mobile operators ---who are the ones who do it within cities---, reducing costs by using smaller structures such as nanosatellites.
Sateliot wants to put a total of 100 small satellites into orbit between 2021 and 2022, with the forecast of making the first launch in March of next year from KazakhstanThis is where Open Cosmos comes in, in charge of managing space missions for companies like Sateliot. It handles everything from the design of the satellites and their trajectories to reach space, to their launch and operation once they are there, making those who contract them only have to worry about developing the service they offer, such as collecting data or offering connectivity services, according to the CEO of Open Cosmos, Rafael Jordà.
Created in 2015 in the United Kingdom, the company has had satellites in orbit for three years. OpenCosmos has been growing and has decided to return "home", settling in Castelldefels. Jordà studied at the UPC, but decided to start his project in the United Kingdom, where he saw that there were more facilities to undertake and innovate in the space sector. Now, with a staff of 50 employees and eight space missions underway, Open Cosmos wants to be a pioneer in Catalonia, developing the necessary structure to consolidate the space economy. "There is a lot of potential," says Jordà.
Pangea Aerospace, "transporters" of small satellites
The co-founder of Pangea Aerospace, Xavier Llairó, compares a train with a taxi to explain what his company's contribution to the space sector will be. According to Llairó, to travel from one place to another, a train is initially cheaper than a taxi, although afterwards you have to complement the journey with other means of transport to reach the final destination. On the other hand, a taxi can be more expensive, but it drops you off at your doorstep. Pangea Aerospace is working on developing a reusable microlauncher to send nanosatellites to their working orbit ---their home---, without having to make more transfer journeys, as happens now, where generally the same systems used for large satellites are used. "We will be transporters of nanosatellites," explains Llairó and assures that their proposal should serve to reduce the costs of access to space and fits perfectly with companies that want to send constellations of small satellites.
To do so, the Barcelona-based company, founded by a team of six people in February 2018, is developing a technology that allows the reuse of small rockets used to launch nanosatellites and an engine with a different shape than the one currently predominant in the market, which they hope will be more efficient, reducing fuel consumption and increasing the payload to be transported. They do not give deadlines for when they expect to have it finished and prefer to keep adding milestones. They are already on the second prototype of their rocket recovery system and lead a European consortium to analyze re-entry into the atmosphere. In addition, after two years of simulations with the engine, they will build and test it in Germany before next summer.
Render of Pangea Aerospace's microlaucherPangea Aerospace expects to start invoicing from 2022 and is financed through subsidies and rounds like the one they closed in 2019, for 1.2 million euros. The team is already made up of eleven employees and they expect to hire more employees between the end of 2020 and the beginning of next year.
Zero 2 Infinity
Another company dedicated to "sending anything up" into space is Zero 2 Infinity, but in their case, they do it through balloons and not rockets ---they only use them if objects need to be launched a great distance---. The founder and CEO of Zero 2 Infinity, José Mariano López-Urdiales, indicates that this mechanism is cheaper and more ecological than rockets because it causes less noise. They can launch everything, from connectivity systems or solar panels to a Barbie doll for promotions.
Regarding the strategy promoted by the Govern, López-Urdiales regrets that they have not wanted to promote aspects in which Catalonia was already a leader, such as hot air balloon transport with the Igualada-based company Ultramagic ---it was the first investor in Zero 2 Infinity---, which he assures would allow them to position themselves in the global space tourism race. López-Urdiales argues that these types of manned balloons can ascend to a sufficient height to "see the earth with your own eyes from space like an astronaut," a model that companies in the United States are betting on.