Adjudication of the contracts tendered by IEEC for the construction of two nanosatellites
This is a contract awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya for the construction and launch of two nanosatellites, one of which will be launched next March.
The first nanosatellite put into orbit will provide Internet of Things connectivity (IoT) throughout Catalonia, while the second, dedicated to Earth Observation, will provide essential information to influence the fight against climate change.
In an event organised today, 27 January 2021, at 11 am, in the headquarters of the Department of Digital Policy and Public Administration in the Administrative District, in Barcelona, the names of the two companies awarded the contracts tendered by the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) for the construction, launch and subsequent exploitation of data from two nanosatellites were announced. These are the first nanosatellites of the Generalitat de Catalunya in the framework of the Catalonia NewSpace Strategy.
The companies Open Cosmos and Sateliot will be responsible for the construction and subsequent launching into orbit of these two nanosatellites, which will improve some of the services of the Catalan government and different sectors of the Catalan economy and society.
Image: Tender’s award
Caption: Signature by the CEOs of the two awarded companies, Open Cosmos and Sateliot, of the contracts tendered by the IEEC for the construction and launch of two nanosatellites.
Credits: Alberto Garcia-Rigo (IEEC).
The event has proceeded with the formal signing of contracts and was attended by the IEEC director, Ignasi Ribas, IEEC manager, Pilar Montes, and the Minister of the Department of Digital Policy and Public Administration, Jordi Puigneró, along with the top managers of the two companies awarded the contracts tendered, Rafel Jordà, Open Cosmos’s CEO, and Jaume Sanpera, Sateliot’s CEO. During the event the features, functionality, services and details of the launch of the nanosatellites have also been announced.
The data from the Catalan territory obtained by both nanosatellites will provide key information to improve and make more efficient water management, nature protection, prevention of natural disasters and forest fires, among other measures to combat and influence the acceleration of climate change.
The management and control of the nanosatellites will be done through a system established in the Ground Station located at the Montsec Observatory (OAdM-IEEC) which is located in Sant Esteve de la Sarga, in the Pallars Jussà, and is managed by IEEC. The data will be exploited initially by the Departments of the Generalitat, with the intention to, at a later stage, open them to universities, research centres, technology centres and companies.
Nanosatellite features and services
The company Open Cosmos has been awarded lot 1 of the tender, which consists of the construction of a 6U nanosatellite (6 units, according to the CubeSat standard) that will offer Earth Observation services that will make possible to obtain images from space in different spectral bands for the study of the territory. The aim of this nanosatellite is to implement use cases related to the analysis of crop and soil productivity; prevention and detection of forest fires; planning and supervision of urban and rural development; water management; and monitoring, control and protection of the environment and maritime activity. This nanosatellite will be built entirely in Catalonia, at the Open Cosmos facilities in the Mediterranean Technology Park in Castelldefels. Its launch is scheduled for mid-2022.
For its part, the company Sateliot has been awarded lot 2, for the construction of a 3U nanosatellite (3 units) that will deploy global connectivity services for the Internet of Things (IoT), i.e. it will enable communication and data collection from sensors located throughout the territory, even in areas that are difficult to access or that are not covered by conventional terrestrial telecommunications networks. Some of the use cases to be implemented with this nanosatellite are the monitoring of river flows and water reserves throughout the territory; the tracking and protection of wildlife; the reception of meteorological data from stations located in remote places and the monitoring of soil movements to predict meteorological disasters; and the monitoring of herds and crops to detect diseases and define more efficient strategies.
Image: We go into orbit
Caption: Countdown to the launch of the first nanosatellite, on 21 March 2021.
Credits: Alberto Garcia-Rigo (IEEC).
If weather conditions are optimal, the launch of this second nanosatellite will take place on 21 March 2021, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the first space base built in the world and currently one of the busiest due, basically, to the support activity for the International Space Station.
Names of the satellites by the children
The two nanosatellites will be baptised with the name chosen by the Catalan children thanks to the collaboration of the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (CCMA). The children's news programme of reference of the Super3 Channel, InfoK, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary, will call, in collaboration with the IEEC, a contest so that children can choose the name. The competition should help to encourage scientific and technological vocations among young people and bring an industry such as the new space economy closer to them.
Links
– IEEC
– Open Cosmos
– Sateliot
– Catalonia NewSpace Strategy
– Montsec Observatory
More information
The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) promotes and coordinates space research and technology development in Catalonia for the benefit of society. IEEC fosters collaborations both locally and worldwide and is an efficient agent of knowledge, innovation and technology transfer. As a result of over 20 years of high-quality research, done in collaboration with major international organisations, IEEC ranks among the best international research centers, focusing on areas such as: astrophysics, cosmology, planetary science, and Earth Observation. IEEC’s engineering division develops instrumentation for ground- and space-based projects, and has extensive experience in working with private or public organisations from the aerospace and other innovation sectors.
IEEC is a private non-profit foundation, governed by a Board of Trustees composed of Generalitat de Catalunya and four other institutions that each have a research unit, which together constitute the core of IEEC R&D activity: the University of Barcelona (UB) with the research unit ICCUB — Institute of Cosmos Sciences; the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) with the research unit CERES — Center of Space Studies and Research; the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) with the research unit CTE — Research Group in Space Sciences and Technologies; the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) with the research unit ICE — Institute of Space Sciences. IEEC is a CERCA (Centres de Recerca de Catalunya) center.
Contacts
IEEC Communication Office
Barcelona, Spain
Ana Montaner and Rosa Rodríguez
E-mail: comunicacio@ieec.cat