Presentation of the winning name to baptise the first nanosatellite of the Catalan Government in collaboration with IEEC
"Enxaneta" is the name given by the Catalan children to the nanosatellite that on 20 March 2021 will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, in the frame of the NewSpace Strategy of the Generalitat. The contest, a collaboration between the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya), the Department of Digital Policies and Public Administration and the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (CCMA, for its Catalan acronym), has registered the participation of almost 10,000 children from all over Catalonia.
The event was chaired by the Minister of Digital Policy, Jordi Puigneró, the vice-president and acting president of the CCMA, Núria Llorach, and the director of IEEC, Ignasi Ribas. It was also attended by the 19 children who proposed the ten names that were finalists in the contest and their families. The physicist, doctor in Aerospace Engineering and IEEC researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Miquel Sureda also spoke in an informative talk.
The five winning girls received a guided tour at the Montsec Observatory (OAdM), located in Sant Esteve de la Sarga (Pallars Jussà) and managed by IEEC, and a ticket to visit the Centre d’Observació de l’Univers (COU) in Àger (Noguera), with their respective families. In addition, during yesterday's event, the winners were given a 3D printed nanosatellite model made by IEEC, in which they stuck the name "Enxaneta" live.
The "InfoK" competition started on 27 January, coinciding with the award of the contracts for the construction of the first two nanosatellites that the Generalitat will put into orbit. Over the next two weeks, a thousand children from all over Catalonia proposed up to 203 names for the first of these nanosatellites. From this list, a jury made up of the three contest promoters selected the ten finalists: Enxaneta, Patufèlit, Valentina, Infokaire, Espiadimonis, Flaix, Llibertat, Gaudí, Intrèpid and Llampec. From 17 February to 4 March, children were able to vote for their favorite. From the 19 children who proposed the ten finalist names, 13 are girls and six are boys.
The "Enxaneta", the construction and future launch of which have been carried out by the company Sateliot, will take off on 20 March, at 07:07:12 (Catalan time), from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (in Kazakhstan), aboard a Soyuz 2 rocket.
The launch of the rocket that will carry the nanosatellite can be followed live on the website, where the countdown is already activated until the moment of the takeoff.
Caption: The five girls who proposed the winning name of the contest to baptise the first nanosatellite of the Catalan Government in collaboration with IEEC. On the right, the Minister of Digital Policy, Jordi Puigneró. On the left, the director and presenter of InfoK, Núria Vilanova.
Credit: Catalan Government