The Catalan space footprint still has room to extend beyond the one already left, the Nanosatelite launched in 2021 with the aim of covering the Internet of things through 5G technology. The, next to the I2CAT Research Center and the Catalan company Open Cosmos, will launch in mid -October on 6Gstarlab, Elen orbit. The development of this future technology will complement terrestrial networks and its mission is in remote or isolated regions of Catalan geography. It will allow the basis of new technological applications in areas such as telemedicine, distance education, mobility or prevention and mitigation of natural fires and disasters. The Californian military and space base of Vandenberg, in Santa Barbara County, has been the location chosen to host this historic event.
After nine months of construction – a record time for a project of these characteristics – the satellite is already ready at the Open Cosmos facilities, in Barcelona. To materialize the project, I2CAT has awarded a public contract to the Catalan company for a value of 1.65 million euros. The investment covers the design, manufacture, integration, launch and implementation of the satellite, scheduled at the beginning to 2026. “Now it is about building much more. We want to produce more satellites with an industrializing mentality that allows us to attract the main telecommunications projects in Europe to Catalonia,” he celebrates
The device is reduced, of no more than 50 centimeters in length, but does not reach the category of Nanosatelite. The small bucket will focus on the research and development of non -land networks (NTN) and will allow experimentally to validate new communication technologies in a real environment in space. The 6Gstarlab aims to explore the interconnections between terrestrial and non -terrestrial networks. That is, it will be a kind of coverage extension for mobile operators, as was already the tiny enxake. “Non -land networks use nodes such as high altitude satellites or platforms to transmit information. They are crucial because they complement land. This integration allows to create hybrid networks that improve the performance of communications and offer a transparent user experience,” explains Sergi Figuerola, general director of I2Cat.
The mission will have a segment of land located in Móra La Nova (Tarragona), from where satellite experiments will be controlled. This earth’s base will include a broadband tracking station (KA-BAND), a key technology for future non-terrestrial networks. The equipment will have a terrestrial optical station that to establish bidirectional laser communications Earth-space and facilitate the transmission of high speed data.
Given the growing global threats in terms of cybersecurity, the pioneer initiative aims to consolidate a new generation of safe communications to protect government, financial, business and personal systems. In this way, the project follows the road map of the European Space Agency (that), which is none other than making this technology available to the scientific community for the development of innovative solutions in different sectors.
Thus, the Government wants to apply in the export of space technology, connectivity and telecommunications. “We must recover the economic leadership. Europe is at a complex moment in which you need to recover technological sovereignty against the United States and China,” says the Minister of the Presidency and president of the Board of Trustees of the I2Cat Center, who also claims the capacity that Catalonia has to retain and attract talent.
