A Falcon 9 rocket from the company SpaceX tycoon Elon Musk will put the second into orbit nanosatellite of the Generalitat, baptized’Menut’ and manufactured by Open Cosmos, on December 6 from Cape Canaveral, on the coast of California (United States). This was announced on Tuesday by the secretary of Digital Policies of the Generalitat, David Ferrer, at the inauguration of the new Open Cosmos facilities in Barcelona and in the presence of Menut, who will be flown to the United States this afternoon.
Unlike ‘Enxaneta‘, the first nanosatellite put into orbit by the Catalan Executive in a project led by Sateliot and which provides services in the field of telecommunications,’Menut’ will serve to obtain terrestrial observation data and monitor the effects of the climate crisis. Menut, a “super computer” the approximate size of a shoe box, will be operated by Open Cosmos and when it flies over Catalonia, the data collected will be used by the Government, a procedure identical to that of the Enxaneta nanosatellite operated by Sateliot.
Effects of the Ukrainian war
Initially it was planned that the launch would take place from Baikonur (Kazakhstan), but the Government aborted the mission a few months ago due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ferrer assured EFE that no financial disbursement had yet been made, although a place had already been reserved for the Catalan nanosatellite. Open Cosmos was awarded for €1.72 million the contract to manufacture and operate this nanosatellite, while Sateliot put ‘Enxaneta’ into orbit by winning a contract of just over 574,000 euros -although it commissioned its manufacture precisely to Open Cosmos-.
The projects have been awarded in both cases by the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC). The ‘Menut’ contract provides for this nanosatellite to provide service for two years, extendable for two more years.
New facilities
The announcement of the launch has been made within the framework of the presentation of the new Open Cosmos offices in Barcelona, in facilities owned by GPA Innova in which they will be implemented. state-of-the-art laboratories to build satellites.
This company in the new space economy -the industry that emerged in parallel to the CubeSat, a standard for nanosatellites that weigh less than ten kilos and that have lowered the cost of space exploration- plans to invest 10 million euros in Barcelona and hire 50 people in the coming years, without detailing a specific period of time.
‘Menut’, which may ‘take outr 5 meter resolution images from anywhere in the world, will be part of its OpenConstellation project, which aims to be “global infrastructure largest Earth observation satellite company in the world”. The firm’s founder, Rafel Ramos, explained to Efe that the forecast is that 25 satellites, of which 8 are already manufactured or in the production process, will be those who make up this infrastructure.
“Little Hope”
The Catalan sector of the new space economy invoiced in 2020, despite the context of pandemic, 143 million euros, and it is expected to reach 539.4 million in 2025, 276% more, according to a study promoted by the Government and released last December.
Related news
However, the crisis of the Government caused by the Exit of Junts from the Executive The Catalan offers “little hope” to Ferrer that he will continue betting on this sector and, in general, on digital policies. And that “if you stop you are dead”, since it is an economy that grows exponentially, as the still secretary of Digital Policies to EFE.
Polítique Digitals, previously part of the Department of the Vice Presidency, Digital Policies and Territory, will from now on form part of the Ministry of the Presidency commanded by Laura Vilagra.