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Poland and Spain are the European countries that have increased their contribution to space the most. For very different reasons

December 31, 2025 by usatoday24

“Europe wants to get its act together in space matters and become independent from States, so in 2025 it has launched the ambitious 15-year plan.”Strategy 2040: Elevating Europe’s future“, ha merged its largest companies and has approved a historic budget of more than 22,000 million euros. In this new budget of the European Space Agency, there are two countries that have taken a step forward in investment: Poland and Spain. Spain and Poland take a step forward. With a contribution of 1,854 million euros, the Spanish state goes from fifth to fourth positiononly behind Germany, France and Italy. Since 2022 it has surpassed the United Kingdom, the only member state that has been reducing its contribution since 2022. Poland has gone from twelfth place to become the eighth largest contributor. Although the objective of Spain and Poland is the same, their motivations are different: while the former’s priority is to support its industrial base, for the latter security and autonomy are essential. The success of ESA’s budget request lies in the programs it houses and how each country and its priorities can influence the general space spending trends of the old continent. The jewel in the crown: EOGS-ESA. One of the great engines is Earth Observation Governmental Service (Government Earth Observation Service), a key program of the European Space Agency focused on Earth observation with satellite data, but not only for science or climate, but also for defense and security in what they call dual use, civil and military. The economic injection from Poland and Spain was significant: 325 million euros for the Spanish state and 109 million euros for the Eastern country, more than half of what it put in 2022. But both financed different components of the project that align with their interests. Each country has its reasons. Thus, Poland was allocated to shared European systems and resilience networks (services that work even if there are failures or sabotage), which fits with its concern for national security, the protection of strategic infrastructures and obviously, the context of the war in Ukraine. For its part, Spain opted for a part of the most tangible project: building satellites, more specifically the “Atlantic Constellation“, a constellation of small satellites shared with Portugal to observe the Atlantic. Missing launchers. In Europe, traditionally the launching countries have been France, Germany and Italy through Ariane and Vega, but in recent years the panorama has become more complicated. On the one hand, the success of SpaceX has overshadowed European work and on the other, the gap in launches that has existed in recent years, as a result of Ariane 6 delaysthe breaking of collaborations with Russia and the stoppage of Vega-C. So other countries with less tradition have taken a step forward, improving competitiveness. In the case of Spain, it has allocated 169 million to miuraa reusable small satellite launcher from the company PLD Space. Poland has increased its contribution to the Future Launcher Preparatory Programme, an ESA program focused on new innovative launcher technologies. From 2022 to 2025 it has gone from providing three million to 48. Bringing historic programs to life. Although they had not previously been a priority for both countries, Poland and Spain have set their sights on older programs such as ‘Celeste’ or ‘Iris2’. ‘Celeste’ is an ESA mission based on low orbit satellites that reinforces Galileo in achieving more precise and difficult to interfere navigation, with a scope of application in the development of autonomous vehicles, drones and critical infrastructures. Poland has made its debut with a contribution of 10 million and Spain has tripled its investment. ‘Iris2‘ is something like the European Starlink, made up of a network of about 300 satellites that will provide secure, fast and resilient communications to EU governments and companies. With supervision from ESA, the objective is to guarantee European digital sovereignty. Its first launch is scheduled for 2029. In this mission, Spain has emerged by contributing much more than any other member state to Element 3, which focuses on user terminals, new services and missions, with 140 million euros. More R + D + i. Likewise, both states have gained weight in FutureEOESA’s R&D program for Earth observation focused on climate change, ecosystem collapse, human health and the impact of resource consumption. Thus, Poland and Spain went from 8.5 and 20 million respectively in 2022 to 35 and 110 million in this new budget. Poland’s space exploration. Poland has risen from 12.5 million to 61 million euros in just three years, with more than half of that increase (30 million) allocated to lunar exploration. However, they have just send its first astronaut in decades: Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, on an Ignis trade mission. The pioneer was Mirosław Hermaszewski, in 1978. In Xataka | “Elon Musk can monopolize everything,” warns Arianespace, which has been launching all of Europe’s satellites for 40 years In Xataka | A space war looms over our heads and Europe is the power that invests the least in defense technology Cover | Image from freepik

Spain needs to modernize its electrical grid, so the remuneration rate has increased. The effect will be noticeable in the next five years

November 4, 2025 by usatoday24

Until now we have observed the electricity bill as has increased after the April blackout. But this time the focus is not on the receipt, but on a silent decision that the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has just made and that will determine how much it will cost to keep the light on in the next five years. Piecemeal. The CNMC has sent to the Council of State the circulars that establish how the transport and distribution of electricity is remunerated between 2026 and 2031, the so-called “network business”: the towers, cables and transformation centers that make it possible for energy to reach homes, factories and hospitals. The technical detail is a figure: 6.58%. This new percentage – up from 5.58% – is, according to the regulator, an update that better reflects current financial conditions, after a period of rising interest rates. However, the measure is far from the 7% or 7.5% requested by the large electricity companies grouped in Aelec (Iberdrola, Endesa, EDP and Naturgy) and that the small distributors represented by CIDE also claimed. And in the pocket? Good question. These circulars, which will come into force on January 1, 2026 if the Council of State does not introduce changes, define the remuneration criteria for the entire period 2026–2031. In the short term, the increase will not be directly noticeable on the bill, but it will influence the regulated costs that support the electrical system and that we all pay. According to CNMC calculationsthe impact of the change will be between 0.9% and 1.1% of the total annual costs of the system, depending on the level of investment. The purpose of this rate is to guarantee that companies that maintain and expand the electrical network receive a reasonable return on their invested capital. If the percentage is too low, investment is discouraged; If it is too high, the costs of the system and, in the long run, the consumer’s bill increase. The regulator look for a balance point: enough attractiveness for lines to continue being built and reinforced, but without transferring an extra cost to homes. A change in calculation. For the first time, historical data and future forecasts will be combined to estimate the cost of companies’ debt, rather than relying solely on past interest rates. New components are also incorporated: transaction costs (such as commissions for issuing debt), the so-called cost-of-carry (cost of maintaining financial positions) and a correction due to the European Central Bank’s bond purchase programs, which had artificially reduced the profitability of public debt and, therefore, the risk-free rate. According to the organizationthis is a “more realistic” methodology that incorporates recent market volatility. The change will be applied in a phased manner during the six years of the new regulatory period and expands the margin of recognized investment, including not only new infrastructure but also improvements and optimization of existing ones. The goal: keep bills contained while the network is modernized. The “K parameter”. Beyond the technicalities, what is at stake is Spain’s ability to electrify its economy without skyrocketing the bill. The CNMC has set it at 257 euros per connected kilowatt, compared to 232 euros in the previous draft. The companies maintain that the real cost is around 375 euros/kW, so the improvement falls far short. This parameter determines how many industrial projects, data centers or new homes can be connected to the network without the connection being economically unfeasible. According to the employerlimiting remuneration to that level “prevents connecting part of the new consumers” and can put the competitiveness of entire sectors at risk. This has been the response. Aelec expressed its “deep concern” and warned that the new circulars “compromise the electrification and industrial development of the country.” The employers insist that the rate is still below European levels – between 6.8% and 7.5% – and warns that “it discourages investment just when the country needs to deploy more electrical infrastructure.” More than 67 business and social associations have joined his call. In a manifesto cited by Aelec itselfwarn that, if conditions are not reviewed, “the Spanish electricity networks could collapse.” The employers’ association also criticizes that the CNMC has reduced the recognized maintenance costs by 37%, which, in its opinion, may deteriorate the quality of the service and stop the connection of new clients. For its part, the CNMC maintains that its obligation is to protect the consumer and guarantee the sustainability of the system. The organization seeks to “limit the impact of investments on customer bills” and remembers that everything that electricity companies invest in these networks is paid as fixed charges on the electricity bill. The balance, the regulator insistsconsists of remunerating the necessary investments without overloading the end user. A decision with long-term effects. Behind this technical dispute lies a fundamental question: can Spain electrify its economy at the necessary pace without increasing the remuneration of the networks? The Government has launched a plan to increase investment in networks by 62% until 2030, with around 13.6 billion euros to reinforce the national network, as El Economista recalled. However, Five Days points out that the new limitations of the CNMC could stop part of these projects and leave out consumers with higher connection costs. The electricity companies are now preparing allegations before the Council of State, while the regulator defends that its proposal offers stability and predictability for six years, a rarity in a context of financial and energy volatility. An invisible, but transcendental decision. The figure of 6.58% will not say much to the average consumer, but a good part of Spain’s electrical future depends on it. It defines whether there will be enough investment to connect the new factories, electric vehicle chargers or data centers that support digitalization, and also how much each family will pay to keep that network operational. You won’t notice anything on your next bill, but this decision determines how much you’ll pay—and how reliable your grid will be—over the next five years. Between containing prices and … Read more

The new space race has created Boomerang scrap. The probability that clash against a plane has also increased

February 16, 2025 by usatoday24

We are launching more rockets to space than ever. Between China and Spacex, they occur releases every few days in a new space race with multiple objectives on the horizon. It’s something that is lowering space transportationbut also generates a new problem: the amount of scrap that orbits our planet. And this generates another conflict: with more satellites and rockets in orbit, the risk that a fragment of some of them hit a plane is increasingly high. At the University of British Columbia they have proposed to analyze it and have determined that, to anyone’s surprise, the consequences of the clash would be devastating. The problem. Beyond the test rockets, transport of goods and people, something that is causing more and more launching are the satellites that bring the internet to any corner. There are several players in this segment, but Spacex carries the front with its program Starlink. These satellites are sent in rockets that, when they fulfill their function, lose height and return to the planet. Some partially disintegrate and others, to the re -enter the atmosphere without controlthey fall anywhere. The ocean is usually the main receptacle, it is also possible that they fall in urban areas or that, on their way, they clash against a plane. The probability. First of all, tranquility: the risk that these space debris impact an plane is still low, very low. According to The Aerospace Corporation, in 2021 (when they were thrown, but it was not the current fever), that risk was one between 100,000, or 0.001%. The system predicted, taking into account future releases, which by 2035 would rise to seven out of 10,000, or what is equal to 0.07%. It is, as we say, a low probability, but that is there. In the study From the University of British Columbia they have analyzed how all this depends on air traffic density. Taking as an example the traffic of September 1, 2023, and the United States as a area, we can see that, every year, there is a 99% probability that the resentments of rocket bodies occur in green areas, 75% in the yellow, 26% in oranges and 0.8% in red. Las Rojas are the most activity areas, such as the main airports, oranges are large cities and green and green move away from urban nuclei and, therefore, from the agglomeration of airplanes. Long March 5B. Beyond the direct clash of this space scrap against a plane, something whose probability remains exceptionally low, there is another problem: the danger of happening and leads to the decision to cut the airspace. On November 4, 2022, the body of the Long March 5B rocket, 20 tons of weight, re -entered the atmosphere, falling on the Pacific Ocean. All good, but it might not have been like this: the entrance location was the product of chance, since the body of the rocket was abandoned in the orbit and a planned design was not made for the re -entry of the remains. Consequences. The night before the reentry, different surveillance agencies, as well as the European Air Safety Agency, issued reports in which they encouraged national authorities to restrict airspace “in a corridor of at least 70 kilometers and up to 120 kilometers on each side of the estimated reentry trajectory ”of the rocket. Spanish and French authorities complied with this and They closed part of their airspace. As a result, 645 flights were delayed, with an average of 29 minutes per plane. In addition, some airplanes that were in full flight had to return to the origin airport or take a detour. It was the evidence of a lack of planning, anticipation and control over this space scrap. Interestingly, Portugal, Italy and Greece did not make the decision to close, generating other problems in their airports due to the unexpected increase in air traffic due to deviant flights. In purple, the airspace closed by the Long March 5B. In blue, his career and fall Solutions. Unfortunately, although this is a problem that will go more, controlling the reentry of space debris is not something that has an immediate solution. The researchers propose that those responsible for launching rockets also invest in controllable reentry technologies so that they do not enter the atmosphere unpredictably. These technologies include engines capable of re -effective to partially direct the rocket, but also a better mission planning so that the rocket falls into a remote area of the ocean, far from populations and, evidently, air traffic. The problem is that, although the technology is there, they estimate that less than 35% of the launches perform these controlled inputs and, with 2,300 bodies in orbit with an annual increase of between 30 and 40 bodies, the risks will continue to increase. In 2001, the titanium engine coating of the third stage of a Delta 2, with a weight of approximately 70 kg, landed in Saudi Arabia, about 240 km from the capital Obviously, it is also a huge money expense, so achievements such as catch the Starship propeller and the advances of Spacex engineers so as not to have launch and throw rockets They are so important. And a global protocol is also necessary to manage these resentments and make coordinated decisions, not to delegate everything in an aeronautical industry that is not responsible. In the end, it is much more likely that there are alterations in air traffic due to this space garbage than to the clash of one of these remains with a plane, but whenever this probability is not zero, solutions must be contemplated. Images | Nature, Spacex In Xataka | The capture of the Super Heavy changes everything: Spacex has gone from being 9 years ahead of the industry to not having a rival

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