Raul Married |
Madrid (EFE).- The average price of a conventional satellite is around 500 million euros and its manufacture and launch is only within the reach of multinationals, governments and space agencies -and in most cases of alliances between them-.
The nanosatellites, the size of a microwave, aim to democratize space and that sectors that never considered accessing satellite solutions can now do so in a faster and more affordable way.
A nanosatellite can be designed, manufactured and launched in a matter of months, at a price of around 1 million euros; they can be launched from numerous shuttles and rockets; they form constellations that allow rapid renewal or updating and their exponential growth has also multiplied the number of companies and administrations that resort to this type of service.
These are the arguments defended by the founder and head of Open Cosmos, Rafael Jordá, who launched this company eight years ago in the United Kingdom and today also has offices in Barcelona, Madrid and Cádiz, with installations for integration and testing. of satellites in “white” or clean rooms and research centers to advance in multiple electronic developments, increasingly miniaturized.
Jordá, who in the coming weeks will receive the Business Award from the Princess of Girona Foundation, spoke to EFE about “democratizing” access to space and how this will benefit society, the concept of “new space”, technologies disruptive and innovative, but also passion, enthusiasm, talent, leadership and professional and human quality.
Satellites facing the great challenges of humanity
The company manufactures and operates satellites and develops with them missions that promote the collection of geoseasonal data or telecommunications services, which are essential -explained its founder- to address some of the great challenges facing humanity (climate change, the efficient use of natural resources, the prediction of natural catastrophes), but also to promote connectivity in remote areas or facilitate the management of humanitarian aid.
It has already won competitions and developed projects for the European Commission, for the United Kingdom, for the European Space Agency (ESA) or for the Generalitat of Catalonia (the “Menut” nanosatellite for Earth observation).
For the Junta de Andalucía (the “Agapa” satellite for the Agricultural and Fisheries Management Agency of the Junta de Andalucía); or for the Instituto Astrofísico de Canarias (the “ALSIO-1” to identify environmental and climate risks and optimize the use of natural resources).
The Majorcan Rafel Jordá points out that at the moment the success rate of the missions it has developed stands at 100 percent and that the company has a portfolio of contracts to deploy another eighteen nanosatellites for a global amount of around 50 million euros. , contracts and amounts that in his opinion will promote the creation of quality employment and the retention of Spanish scientific talent.
The engineer reviews his passion for science and space since he was a child; how he learned from his parents -both health professionals- that the margin of error should be close to zero; the transformation “or even revolution” that the aerospace sector is undergoing thanks to nanosatellites and how a dream becomes a project and a project becomes a company after overcoming the three major barriers in the sector: extremely high technological complexity, strict regulation and the high costs.
And among the most important and attractive lines of business in the future, Jordá refers to the “aggregate constellations” of satellites, capable of collecting the data offered by the hundreds of satellites and nanosatellites that already orbit the Earth -from different companies and governments. – to give them a new application and turn them into useful and practical information for many more users and in very different sectors (maritime, security, agriculture, fishing, environment or communications).
“The space industry has traditionally been within the reach of very few,” Rafel Jordá told EFE, and he appreciated that during the last decade the “miniaturization” of satellites has made it possible to “democratize” space thanks to design processes and manufacturing much faster and less expensive, which in his opinion does not have to lead to any “saturation”.