Although space may seem like a very distant reality, many initiatives are being created from Barcelona that want to bring it closer. One of them is Pangea Aerospace. Its ultimate goal is to produce a reusable rocket for launching nanosatellites that uses a completely different engine than what currently predominates in the market, with better performance and lower cost.
To continue developing this engine, the Barcelona-based company has just closed a three-million-euro financing round, led by Inveready and with the participation of Primo Space, Dozen Investments, E2MC, and CDTI. Since its creation in 2018, Pangea Aerospace has raised more than six million euros in funding, both through rounds and public aid.
Pangea Aerospace co-founder, Xavier Llairó, explains that the resources obtained will allow them to test the engine ---on the ground--- during the third quarter of this year. Basically, they want to demonstrate that their inverse bell-shaped or aerospike engine can operate more optimally than bell-shaped ones ---the most common now--- because it adapts better to atmospheric pressure. This different composition allows them to reduce fuel consumption by 10% to 15%. In addition, they are made with metallic 3D printing and use less polluting fuels, such as liquid oxygen and methane. Given these characteristics, the Barcelona-based company assures that they will be the first to test such an engine in Europe.
In addition to the engine, the company is also finalizing a technology that allows the reuse of rockets sent into space, which will re-enter the atmosphere without problems after leaving nanosatellites in orbits close to Earth. This system is already patented. Both parts are essential to reach their ultimate goal, a rocket.
To explain the nanosatellite microlaucher imagined by Pangea Aerospace, its co-founder compares the operation of a train with a taxi. According to Llairó, to get from one place to another, a train initially costs less than a taxi, even though you then have to supplement the journey with other means of transport to reach the final destination. On the other hand, a taxi may initially be more expensive, but it drops you off at your doorstep. The company is working to develop a reusable rocket to send nanosatellites to their working orbit ---their home---, without having to make more transfer journeys, as is currently the case.
Pangea Aerospace is one of the Catalan companies that are immersing themselves in the New Space. This is a pioneering sector that is making access to space more accessible, which was previously only reserved for large missions. The launch of small satellites flying in low orbits is opening up a range of new services, taking advantage of all the data that can be collected from space. To avoid being left behind, the Government is boosting this sector with the launch of two nanosatellites this year.