satellite

Iran has spent decades excavating its “missile cities.” Satellite images have just revealed that they are a death trap

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For years, Iran has shown the world tunnel videos endless tunnels dug under mountains, with military trucks circulating between missiles lined up as if they were cars in an underground subway. It was understood that many of these facilities extend kilometers underground and are part of one of the military fortification programs. most ambitious in the Middle East. What almost no one knew until now is to what extent this gigantic hidden labyrinth could become a key piece of the current conflict. The cities, but with missiles. Yes, for decades, Iran has excavated an extensive underground base network known as “missile cities”, complexes hidden under mountains and hills intended to protect its enormous ballistic arsenal against air attacks and guarantee the regime’s retaliation capacity even in the event of open war. There are numerous videos Officials released in recent years where we could see long tunnels illuminated by artificial lights, windowless corridors and convoys of trucks loaded with missiles ready to move to the surface, an entire military architecture designed to hide thousands of short and medium range projectiles away from spy satellites and enemy bombers. Some installations even incorporate silos dug into the rock or mechanical systems on rails to move missiles within underground galleries, a perfectly assembled choreography reflecting a strategic project conceived to ensure arsenal survival Iranian in a protracted conflict. The images that reveal the paradox. However, the war has begun to show the unexpected reverse of that strategy. Recent images from space have revealed Smoldering remains of destroyed launchers and missiles near the entrances to several underground complexes, a sign that systems hidden underground are becoming extremely vulnerable at the moment when they must go outside to shoot. It makes sense. American and Israeli surveillance planes, armed drones and fighters They patrol constantly over the areas where these facilities are located, observing the entrances to the tunnels and attacking the launchers as soon as they appear on nearby roads or canyons. In other words, what for years was a system designed to hide mobile weapons It thus becomes a relatively predictable pattern: tunnel entrances, exit roads and deployment areas that can be monitored from the air and destroyed as soon as activity is detected. From strategic refuge to death trap. They remembered in the wall street journal A few hours ago this change has revealed a structural problem in the very concept of missile cities. Underground complexes are very difficult to destroy from the air, but they are also fixed installations whose location is known by Western intelligence services. In practice, this means that much of the arsenal remains stored in specific places while enemy planes continually fly over the airspace, waiting for the moment when the launchers come out to act. Many military analysts summarize the dilemma in a simple way: What was previously a mobile and difficult to locate system is now concentrated in fixed points, which facilitates its surveillance and reduces its capacity for surprise. Commercial satellite images themselves show destroyed launchers As soon as they left the mouths of the tunnels, fires were caused by leaked fuel and access to facilities bombed with heavy ammunition. Missile base north of Tabriz in Iran. The image on the left belongs to February 23, the one on the right from March 1 after the first attacks The air offensive against underground infrastructure. As the first week of war approaches, the military campaign has begun to focus increasingly on these infrastructures. They told Reuters that the first phase of the attacks focused on destroying visible launchers and surface systems capable of firing at Israel or US bases in the region, while the second stage aims straight to the bunkers and buried warehouses where missiles and equipment are stored. Israeli aviation, with American support, has attacked hundreds of positions and has managed to drastically reduce the number of launches, while an almost constant air offensive that hits targets continues. both in Iran and Lebanon during the same missions. The stated objective is to progressively degrade Iran’s ability to launch ballistic missiles and drones until it is completely neutralized. Missile base north of Kermanshah in Iran. The image on the left belongs to February 28, on the right it belongs to March 3 A gigantic arsenal underground. The actual scope of these facilities remains difficult to determine. There are military estimates that place the Iranian arsenal before the war between about 2,500 and up to 6,000 missilesstored in different facilities throughout the country, many of them excavated under mountains or in remote areas of the territory. Despite the attacks, Iran has managed to launch more than 500 missiles against Israel, US bases and targets in the Gulf since the start of the conflict, although many have been intercepted and the pace of salvos has decreased rapidly. That drop suggests that attacks on launchers and storage centers are beginning to erode the country’s ability to respond. The strategic dilemma. The result is a strategic paradox that is just beginning to become visible. Missile cities were designed to protect the core of Iranian military power and ensure its ability to retaliate, but in a scenario where the enemy dominate the air and watch constantly the entrances to these complexes can become choke points for the arsenal itself. Iran has spent decades excavating these underground bases with the intention of making its missiles invisible. But satellite images of the war are showing something very different: that this labyrinth of tunnels, designed as a shelter, can become one of its greatest vulnerabilities when the launchers are forced to surface under the look constant flow of planes, drones and satellites. Image | X, Planet Labs In Xataka | We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is new: neither drones nor missiles, bulldozers have reached the front In Xataka | You’ve probably never heard of urea. The missiles in Iran are destroying their production, and that will affect your food

your satellite “tug” is ready to fly

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We are used to talking about satellite launches as if that moment marked the end of the journey. The rocket takes off, the cargo reaches orbit and the mission seems accomplished. But that is not always enough: placing a satellite in space is only the beginning of a much more delicate process, that of taking it exactly to the point where it must operate and ensuring that it can fulfill its mission under the expected conditions. In that silent stretch is where new proposals begin to emerge. Among them, a Spanish startup which claims to have its own orbital transport vehicle ready and a first mission planned for 2026. UARX Space. Behind this proposal appears UARX Spacea company based in Nigrán, on the coast of Galicia. Founded in 2020, the company has defended an unusual strategy within the ecosystem: advance during its early years with a low public profile and focus on technological maturity before presenting to the market. That approach raises the idea of ​​coming up with more developed systems. ready to fly. The most recent turning point comes not from a launch, but from a technical validation. In a post published on LinkedIn a few hours agoUARX Space notes that its OSSIE orbital vehicle has completed the environmental qualification campaign, a phase that includes vibration tests, tightness and conditions representative of takeoff. The results, according to the company, confirm compliance with the mission requirements and place the system in a state of readiness for flight. The work of the “tugboat”. The difference between understanding the concept and seeing its real impact is how those capabilities are applied in a specific mission. A vehicle like OSSIE It not only moves satellites from one point to another, but also undertakes maneuvers that determine whether a constellation works as designed or whether a payload reaches the exact orbit it needs to operate. As we say, the system is designed to execute precise injections, modify orbital parameters and coordinate relative positioning between satellites. When will the launch be? With that milestone on the table, the next question is when liftoff could come. From what we have been able to observe in UARX public informationthe first OSSIE mission takes place in 2026 and is limited to the first quarter of the year, with an initial insertion planned into sun-synchronous orbit around 500-600 kilometers. Other data comes to us from a previously published statementwhich indicates that the orbital launch system contracted for this important step will be SpaceX’s Falcon 9. OSSIE will carry twelve loads on its initial flight. One of them will be CORTISa UVigo SpaceLab initiative designed to compare the performance of commercial radiation sensors with proprietary developments and to test a flight heritage camera planned for another mission. The project has passed vibration tests at the company’s facilities before its integration, a necessary step for any cargo that aspires to travel to space. This collaboration between the academic environment and industrial infrastructure offers a more concrete image of the model that the company is trying to build. Refuel in orbit, but later. The scope of the project is not limited to the movement of satellites, but rather points to a different way of operating in space. UARX works together with Dawn Aerospace in the integration of a docking system that, in this first mission, will only have a structural function, but which is part of an architecture designed to allow in-orbit services in the future. Among them appears the possibility of orbital resupply, an idea still in development within the European ecosystem. Images | UARX Space In Xataka | Starlink’s dominance in space begins to move: another company already has permission for a constellation of 4,000 satellites

TeraWave, Blue Origin’s satellite internet, is born

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Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, has announced this Wednesday the deployment of 5,408 satellites to create TeraWave, a satellite communications network that will compete directly with starlink from SpaceX. But there is a crucial difference: it is not intended for you or me. What Blue Origin proposes. TeraWave promises speeds of up to 6 terabits per second, both upload and download, anywhere on the planet, according to the company. Deployment will begin at the end of 2027 with a constellation that will combine satellites in low and medium Earth orbit, connected by optical links. The network is designed to serve a maximum of approximately 100,000 customers, not millions like its competitors. The big difference with Starlink. While the service deployed by Elon Musk’s company, with more than 9,000 satellites in orbit and some 9 million customers, focuses on offering internet to individual consumers, companies and governments alike, TeraWave is committed to an exclusively business approach. Blue Origin has made clear that its network is “designed specifically for enterprise customers,” targeting data centers, governments and enterprises that require reliable connectivity for critical operations. Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin and former head of Amazon devices, confirmed in the statement that this is an “enterprise grade” service. An increasingly saturated market. Bezos is not only competing with Musk, but also with his own creature: Amazon. The e-commerce company Leo is deploying (formerly Project Kuiper), a network of 3,236 satellites of which there are already 180 in orbit. Unlike TeraWave, Leo does target both businesses, consumers and governments, competing more directly with Starlink. In addition, several Chinese companies are rapidly developing similar constellations with low-cost reusable rockets, following the strategy that SpaceX established with your Falcon 9. Why do they aim so high in speed?. Those 6 terabits per second that TeraWave promises are extreme even by current enterprise standards, well above what rival commercial services offer. So yes, indeed, Blue Origin aims to meet the demand for data centers for AI. And the TeraWave announcement coincides with a career in the space industry for building data centers in space that can meet the growing demand for large-scale AI processing. Musk has already expressed his desire to build these space centers complementing Starlink, while Bezos already predicted that will be common in orbit in the next 10 to 20 years. The logistical challenge. To put 5,408 satellites into orbit you need a reliable and economical launch machine. This is where Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn rocket comes in, which although it has completed two launches, has not yet reached the necessary flight rate. Last November, the company achieved an important milestone upon successful landing the New Glenn booster after the launch of two NASA spacecraft, becoming the second company, after SpaceX, to achieve this feat. Bezos’s commitment to space. The founder of Amazon has been preaching about the potential of Blue Origin for years. In 2024, during an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Bezos stated who believes Blue Origin “will be the best business I’ve ever been involved in, but it will take time.” Founded in 2000, the company has been primarily known for its tourist flights to the edge of space. Last year he also took both his current wife, Lauren Sánchez, and to the singer Katy Perry or to our national survivor, Jesus Calleja. Cover image | Jeff Bezos In Xataka | SpaceX has made sending things to space very cheap. The problem is that now space is full of things

The most advanced Spanish military satellite suffered an impact in space more than a week ago. There are still no clear explanations

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For years, Spain has invested millions of euros in building a space communications system designed for extreme scenarios, from military operations to international emergencies. One of its pillars, the satellite SpainSat NG II, It took off in October with everything as planned and within a program presented as the most ambitious in Spanish space history. However, something happened very soon during its transfer to its orbital position. More than a week after an incident was acknowledged, what surrounds the satellite’s true status is a combination of minimal data and silence that leaves many questions open. An aging statement. The only thing confirmed so far comes from a statement released by Indra January 2, 2026in which it is recognized that the satellite suffered the “impact of a space particle” during its transfer to the final orbit. The incident occurred about 50,000 kilometers from Earth, still an intermediate phase of the journey to its geostationary position. Since then, the technical team is analyzing the available data to determine the extent of the damage, but no assessment of its operational status or the actual consequences of the impact has been made public. The launch of SpainSat NG II took place on the night of October 23 in the United States, already in the early hours of the 24th in Spain, aboard a Falcon 9 bound for a geostationary transfer orbit. From there, the satellite had to complete a journey of several months until reaching its final position about 36,000 kilometers from Earth, a process that, according to the CEO of Hisdesat told Euronews, usually takes between five and six months. The impact recognized by Indra occurred in that intermediate phase of the journey, when the satellite had not yet reached its final operational orbit. The reaction. In that same statement, Indra explained that Hisdesat, operator and owner of the satellite, had activated a contingency plan to guarantee that the committed services are not affected. The formulation fits with the logic of a two-satellite system, which seeks to ensure continuity of service even in the event of unforeseen incidents. However, the specific measures adopted and the current degree of dependence on the affected satellite within the program as a whole have not been detailed, which limits the ability to evaluate the real scope of this response. Twin units. SpainSat NG II is not an isolated satellite, but one of the two central pieces of a system conceived as a long-term strategic infrastructure. Along with his twin, the SpainSat NG Iis part of a program promoted by the Ministry of Defense with an investment of more than 2,000 million eurosintended to provide Spain with its own secure communications. The first satellite has already been operational since the summer, while the second was to complete the system, a context that explains the attention that any anomaly in its deployment has generated. The secrets of the satellite. From a technical point of view, SpainSat NG II represents a notable leap over previous generations of government communications satellites. Built by Airbus on the Eurostar Neo platformthe satellite has dimensions close to seven meters and a mass of around six tons. Its payload incorporates an X-band active antenna system that, according to Airbus, offers the equivalent functionality of 16 traditional antennas and allows coverage to be dynamically adapted up to 1,000 times per second, a capacity designed for changing and demanding operating scenarios. More questions than answers. With the information available, the range of scenarios remains wide. An impact from a space particle can result in minor damage without operational consequences, but also in a more serious impact that forces the functions to be limited or the deployment of the satellite to be reconsidered. Indra has even left open the option of a replacement if necessary, and maintains that, in that case, the satellite would be replaced as soon as possible. The absence of specific technical data makes it impossible to know whether this is a controlled incident or a problem with deeper implications. Given the lack of public updates, from Xataka we have contacted Indra to find out if there was any news about the status of the satellite. The company’s press office has responded to us that, for now, they have no details to share about what happened. That silence prolongs the uncertainty around a strategic system that has not yet entered service and leaves open key questions about the real scope of the impact. Images | Airbus (1, 2) | Thales In Xataka | We already have an official date for the United States’ return to the Moon: it is imminent and mired in a sea of ​​doubts

Satellite images have revealed that China has gathered its most important aircraft carriers. And that can only mean one thing

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The simultaneous appearance of the two ends of the Chinese aircraft carrier fleet, the Liaoning veteran and the newly incorporated Fujiandocked at the same naval base does not seem to be a logistical coincidence, but rather a carefully eloquent image. One that can only mean one thing: it is training naval “one plus one.” Two aircraft carriers, one message. Satellite images show both ships moored in Qingdaoa port historically linked to the development of Chinese naval aviation and now expanding to accommodate a new phase of maritime ambition. Together, they represent the past learned and the future being rehearsed: the transition from a regional navy to a force of waters blues capable of operating in a sustained manner far from their shores. From symbol to real capacity. China already has the largest navy in the world by number of hulls, but the qualitative leap is marked by embarked aviation. Entry into service from Fujianthe first Chinese aircraft carrier designed from scratch with electromagnetic catapults introduces a capability that until now was only dominated by the United States. In front of him, Liaoning brings more than a decade of operational experience. The coexistence of both on the same dock points to something more than maintenance: it suggests doctrinal integrationknowledge transfer and the practical initiation of group operations with multiple aircraft carriers, a threshold that separates regional navies from truly global ones. Qingdao as a laboratory. Side by side mooring It’s unusual and deliberate.. It coincides with the declaration of restricted maritime zones in the Bohai Strait and the northern Yellow Sea, a classic indication of imminent exercises. Everything points to joint training in which aircraft departure rates, deck security, logistics, command and control, and coordination between air wings will be compared. The objective is not only for Fujian to learn from Liaoning, but to see how two platforms with different capabilities can operate. as a single systemmultiplying its effectiveness. In naval terms, it is not about adding ships, but about creating operational synergies. Beyond the Strait. The Fujian’s movement northward, crossing the Taiwan Strait without aircraft on deck, has been closely followed through Tokyo and Taipei. Precisely this detail reinforces the reading that it is not a combat mission, but rather a training one. The background, however, seems unequivocal: Beijing wants to break the logic of the First Island Chain (the arc that goes from Japan to the Philippines via Taiwan) and demonstrate that it can project power beyond it. Operating two aircraft carriers in a coordinated manner is key to sustain presenceprotect distant sea lines and provide credible deterrence against US aircraft carrier groups. Implicit response to Washington. The Pentagon assumes that the People’s Liberation Army Navy is in the early stages of operating a multinaval force with aircraft carrierprogressively expanding its radius of action. The continued presence of US aircraft carriers in the Indo-Pacific, under the logic of containment and defense of allies, acts as a catalyst for this process. If you will, China somehow seems to say that it does not need to announce a doctrine for the message to get through: the image of two aircraft carriers together in Qingdao communicates that accelerated learning has begun and that the operational gap is closing. The power of tomorrow. There is no doubt, the analysts match in that these movements do not indicate an imminent conflict. But they do reveal patient and methodical preparation. Crew integration, procedure comparison and dual command testing are essential steps for a navy that aspires to operate autonomously in the Western Pacific and beyond. Japan watches it with special attention because you have already seen Chinese aircraft carriers cross its defensive perimeter in recent exercises. Each deployment, each joint training, normalizes what a decade ago would have seemed exceptional. The threshold that China wants to cross. In short, the true meaning of Qingdao is not in the number of tons or the technological novelty of Fujian, but in the sign of maturity. Going from an experimental aircraft carrier to a couple training together is crossing a strategic threshold. It is not the prelude to war, but to status. China rehearses today the choreography that will need tomorrow to hold your global maritime ambition. And in that essay, the message to allies and rivals is clear: the era of the lone Chinese aircraft carrier is behind us, and that of the carrier group has just begun. Image | Copernicus In Xataka | The Fujian is officially China’s largest power catapult: Beijing already has a button to challenge the US Navy In Xataka | China’s first aircraft carrier hunted from space by a US satellite

When nuclear energy orbited the Earth. The day a Soviet satellite with a reactor fell in Canada and unleashed a crisis

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In the late 1970s, the idea that a nuclear reactor could fall from space ceased to be science fiction and became a real problem on the table of several governments. A Soviet satellite with a reactor on board It had lost control and was heading towards the Earth’s atmosphere, without anyone being able to specify where its remains would end up or what consequences the impact would have. In the midst of the Cold War, secrecy and urgency marked decisions. From there, questions arose that remain uncomfortable today: what was a nuclear reactor doing in orbit, why that risk was accepted, and what happens when technology escapes the script. As CBC points outOn January 24, 1978, the Soviet satellite Kosmos-954 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere after weeks of tracking by American radars. No one knew with certainty where he would fall or in what state his remains would reach the ground. Eventually, fragments of the device were scattered over a vast region of northern Canada, from the Northwest Territories to areas that are now part of Nunavut and northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. What began as an orbital control problem suddenly became an international emergency with scientific, diplomatic and health implications. The day the Cold War left radioactive remains over Canada Kosmos-954 was neither a scientific satellite nor an isolated experimental mission, but one more piece of a Soviet military system designed to monitor the oceans. It was part of the US-A series, designed to locate large ships, especially American aircraft carriers, using radar. To power this system, which is very demanding in terms of energy consumption, the Soviet Union resorted to a compact nuclear reactor, a solution that allowed operate for long periods without depending on solar panels. That technical choice explains why the satellite had fissile material on board and why its loss generated so much concern. The technological heart of Kosmos-954 was a BES-5 reactor, known as “Buk”, developed specifically for Soviet military satellites. This type of reactor used uranium-235 and was designed to power the US-A system radar for the life of the satellite. The BBC estimates that 31 devices were launched with BES-5 for this family of satellites, and places the use of reactors in space until the end of the 1980s, with launches that continued until 1988. That history was not a clean line, according to the BBC: there were previous failures and accidents, including serious problems in one of the first flights in 1970 and the fall of another reactor into the Pacific Ocean after a launcher failure in 1973, in addition to the plan security plan contemplated moving the core into a waste orbit to prevent its return to Earth. Arctic Operational Histories explains that The signs that something was wrong came weeks before re-entry. Tracking systems detected that Kosmos-954 was progressively losing altitude, an anomaly that indicated a serious failure in its orbital control. The United States began to follow its trajectory with special attentionaware that the satellite had a nuclear reactor on board. The big unknown was not only when it would fall, but whether the Soviet security system would manage to separate the core and send it to a safe orbit before the device entered the atmosphere. When it was confirmed that the debris had fallen on Canadian territory, the problem took on a completely new dimension. Authorities knew the fragments were scattered over a vast, largely remote, snow-covered region, making any quick assessment difficult. The first measurements detected radiation in some points, although without a clear map of the contamination. Faced with this uncertainty, Canada had to quickly decide how to protect the population and how to locate potentially hazardous materials in an extreme environment. To confront an unprecedented situation, Canada turned to international cooperation. Operation Morning Light mobilized Canadian and American military personnel, scientists and technicians, many of them from units specialized in nuclear emergencies. From improvised bases in the north, flights equipped with sensors capable of detecting radiation from the air were organized. Each anomalous signal led to more detailed inspections, in a race against time marked by extreme cold and lack of infrastructure. As the search continued, it became clear that the contamination was more complex than expected. Not only visible fragments of the satellite appeared, but also much smaller radioactive particles, difficult to detect and remove. This forced the teams to take extreme precautions expand tracking areas. At the same time, delicate communication work began with the northern communities, who wanted to know what real risks existed for health, water and the fauna on which they depended. As the weeks passed, the operation narrowed its objectives. The official Morning Light phase lasted 84 days, although CBC describes the search effort as extending through most of 1978 and the search covering an area of ​​124,000 square kilometers. In this process, 66 kilograms of remains were recovered and Canada considered the immediate threat to the population and the environment contained. The economic cost was raised and Ottawa claimed 6.1 million dollars from the Soviet Union, which in 1981 agreed to pay half, opening an unusual diplomatic process for an incident of this type. The case of Kosmos-954 was not closed with the removal of the remains from the ground. In the months since, the incident reached international forums and fueled an uncomfortable debate about the use of nuclear power in space. Several countries demanded greater security guarantees and more transparency in programs that, until then, had been developed under strong secrecy. The episode served to reinforce the idea that space accidents do not understand borders and that their consequences could directly affect third countries. Images | Arctic Operational Histories In Xataka | Mars is left with one less line of coverage: NASA loses contact with its key orbital repeater

Sateliot is the great Spanish hope to have its own voice in the new satellite space race

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There is a new space race and no one wants to miss it. Rivaling with Starlink seems like a utopia, but a Spanish company has managed to get ahead to the American giant on a specific point: 5G. While Elon Musk’s satellite company remains anchored in 4G, Sateliot boasts of being a pioneer in offering 5G connectivity from space, not only to IoT devices, but also to conventional mobile phones. This milestone has not gone unnoticed by the governments of Spain and Europe. Sateliot brings together all the ingredients to become an option for technological sovereignty in the satellite race. A race where Starlink dominates with more than 90% of global launches, but where any advance of its own is seen as a great victory. Now Sateliot inaugurates the Europe’s first 5G satellite development center. A pioneering center located in Barcelona that has more than 100 employees, two laboratories, a control room and a clean room of more than 100 square meters. From Xataka we have visited the center of the Catalan satellite company and learned about its ambitious plans. Triton, the new generation of satellites moves to full 5G Since 2018, Sateliot has launched six satellites, the last four in orbit since August 2024. They plan to launch five more next year. However, beyond getting ahead with 5Git will be with their second generation of satellites when they will begin to have a more competitive service. Triton, in homage to the Montseny amphibian, is the name chosen for its new satellites, about four meters long and 150 kilograms in weight. These new satellites represent a radical advance compared to those already sent by Sateliot, because in addition to having a capacity up to 16 times greater, they also change their concept. Tritón not only offers connectivity to IoT devices, but will offer 5G connectivity for data, voice and video to conventional 5G mobiles. Without the need to add any antenna or modifications to these phones and compatible with all operators (3GPP). The satellite, with a cost 10 times higher than the first generation, will allow Sateliot to offer a service that will range from critical security applications to civil protection and defense. The company explains that its satellite connection service will not focus on providing specific coverage to specific consumersbut serve for industrial, maritime, energy or location applications. Jaume Sanpera, CEO of Sateliot, together with the monitoring of its four satellites in orbit The first Triton satellite is scheduled to launch during the first quarter of 2027from Vandenberg (California), one of SpaceX’s two launch bases. The future goal is to be able to use European launchers, such as the Vega and Ariane of the European Space Agency. In this space race, the dates given are no coincidence. 2027 is the date on which it is also planned that Starlink begins upgrading its satellites to 5G. Barcelona bets on aerospace technology Jaume SanperaCEO of Sateliot, is proud that his satellites are “100% manufactured in Barcelona.” Now they have inaugurated the development center, but in the future they plan for the industrial phase to also have a factory in Barcelona. A phase that is still far away. “Next year we will exceed 200 employees. Being more than 80% engineers and having doubled the staff in the last year,” Sanpera explains to Xataka. “We have agreed to expand to the ground floor,” he points out in reference to the recently inaugurated offices. An inauguration that was also attended by multiple public authorities, including the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa. “You have to lose your shyness. Everything outside is better and seems to come from the US or China. Well no: Here we also do very powerful things that no one else has“Illa defended. Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, visits the clean room of the new 5G satellite development center | Satellite Sateliot is a startup that currently brings together much of what Europe is looking for: cutting-edge technology companies and local development. The new development center wants to become the base of a cluster of aerospace companies in Barcelona. And investors are taking note. Sanpera assures that at this time Sateliot is not looking for a new round, although defines it as a company “that requires a lot of capital”. Last March, the The Spanish government announced an investment of around 14 million euros in Sateliotfor a total of a round of about 70 million euros. In addition to the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), Global Portfolio Investments, Indra, Cellnex and SEPIDES have also invested and 30 million euros have been loaned from the European Investment Bank (EIB). For the moment, since his birth They have invested about 50 million euros in R&D. According to Sateliot, they already have signed contracts worth 285 million euros annually and offer coverage in 58 different countries. In total 734 different contracts to connect a total of 10 million devices that cannot have good coverage and where the satellite service opens a whole field of possibilities. The new development center in Barcelona employs 110 employees (80% engineers), with plans to exceed 200 in 2026. “We have 30 different patent applications“, they explain to us. During the explanation of how satellite monitoring works, the CEO of Sateliot hints that not all of its advances have been patented, in order to “not give clues to the competition”, pointing out that there is a high level of industrial espionage in the sector. “The difficulty is in the radio, in the antenna,” says Sanpera. Sateliot cannot compete against Starlink in quantity, but unlike the American company, they are betting on satellites whose connectivity is more modern and, above all, widely compatible. The Triton satellites have a 7 year shelf lifecompared to four or five years for the first generation. The main limiting factor is the radio and software. The company points out that this information is important, because “space debris is a problem for everyone and can prevent us from launching more … Read more

China had been testing a mysterious satellite in orbit for years. A counterespionage company has finally revealed what it was

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On October 16, the starry skies of the Canary Islands were illuminated by a spectacular fireball that crossed the sky from south to north. It was not a meteorite, it was a Chinese satellite that until a few days ago had been a complete mystery. A mystery called XJY-7. Since its launch in December 2020, as part of the maiden flight of the Long March 8 rocket, the Xinjishu Yanzheng-7 had been an unknown. China officially described it as a “new technology verification satellite.” Aside from a blurry render, the world knew almost nothing about its configuration, purpose, or capabilities. And although its re-entry was news in itself, the real news is that, just before it disintegrated, an Australian company managed to photograph it in orbit, finally solving the mystery of what it was and what it was doing up there. Counterespionage in orbit. Using its network of satellites to photograph other objects in orbit, the Australian company HEO achieved what ground-based radars could not: take photos of the XJY-7 up close. The images and the 3D model that HEO built from them revealed features that China had neglected to mention. According to the company has declared to SpaceNewsthe satellite was not a simple test platform; It was equipped with “a large radar antenna” and, most tellingly, a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) antenna. It was a spy satellite. SAR is an advanced remote sensing technology that allows high-resolution images of the Earth’s surface to be obtained in any weather conditions, day or night. The “mysterious” test satellite was, in reality, an advanced surveillance and remote sensing satellite. The HEO observations also revealed a fascinating detail about its design: the satellite had fixed solar panels. This forced it to “rotate its entire body” to maintain power generation, a behavior that the Australian company was able to verify through multiple simultaneous observations from different angles. Satellites that monitor satellites. Traditional monitoring methods (ground-based radars and telescopes) are no longer sufficient to monitor the activity of other nations in orbit. HEO uses a network of more than 40 sensors in flight to take satellite-to-satellite images for your clients. When one of its associated satellites passes near a target, it takes a photo of it. It is a “non-invasive flyby method” that offers real photographs where you can see antennas, panels, thrusters and payloads. With this technique, HEO has managed to identify more than 80 space objects before they appeared in any public catalogue. In an environment where satellite constellations are deployed by the dozens, knowing whether an object is an operational satellite, a piece of space junk, or what type of antenna it carries is crucial for intelligence and defense. Mysterious until his re-entry. Ironically, the mystery that surrounded XJY-7 in its useful life also accompanied it in its death, as the United States Space Command never issued a reentry alert. This is “strange” for an object of this size, says expert Marco Langbroek. It is estimated that XJY-7 had a mass of between 3,000 and 5,000 kg. That an object weighing more than three tons bypassed re-entry warning systems highlights the gaps in conventional space tracking. Even worse when it comes to a satellite with secret capabilities. Image | H.E.O.

The Spainsat NG II satellite is cutting-edge technology Made in Spain

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More than one team of engineers stayed up late from Thursday to Friday to watch the launch of the Spanish Spainsat NG II satellite live. With its successful deployment, Spain is placed at the forefront of European defense from space. On board a Falcon 9. In the absence of European alternatives, the Spainsat NG II took off from Cape Canaveral, in the United States, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch, however, was impeccable. The rocket placed the satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit, completing a new generation constellation for the Spanish Armed Forces. The most advanced in Europe. The second launch of the Spainsat NG program, operated by Hisdesat (now part of Indra) for the Spanish Ministry of Defense, is the culmination of years of development and strategic investments to redefine Spain’s autonomy and climb positions in Europe and NATO. Composed of the twin satellites NG I (launched in January) and NG II (launched yesterday), it is designed to guarantee secure, reliable and uninterrupted communications, both for Spain and its partners. In any circumstance. The new satellites are true orbital fortresses. The Spainsat NG incorporate advanced technologies protection against interference attempts (anti-jamming) and identity theft (anti-spoofing). They are even reinforced against high altitude nuclear phenomenameeting the strictest NATO requirements. This capacity for resilience is precisely what makes Spain climb positions in the Atlantic Alliance. In a modern war scenario, the first battle would be fought in the electromagnetic spectrum, as the Ukrainian war and dependence on Starlink demonstrated. The ability of a country to maintain command and control of its operations, even under nuclear or electronic warfare attack, is a capability that very few countries possess. Made in Spain. But what really distinguishes this project is the qualitative leap for the national industry. 45% of the Spainsat NG system has been manufactured in Spain. The jewel in the crown is PACIS3, the technological heart of the satellite, which includes an active X-band antenna developed by Airbus Defense and Space in Madrid. This antenna, the most advanced in Europe, is the equivalent of 16 traditional antennas and allows the satellite adapt and change your coverage up to 1,000 times per second In practical terms, the satellite can not only resist jamming, but can geographically locate the source of the attack on Earth and nullify it. All this while redirecting its communication beams to the areas of operations that need it. For its part, Thales Alenia Space integrated the complete Communication Module of both satellites. To this end, it built a new state-of-the-art clean room at its Tres Cantos facilities. It is the largest satellite system ever assembled in Spain: a structure of more than two tons and six meters high. Image | Airbus In Xataka | Europe has done the only thing it could do to compete with SpaceX and China in space: merge its largest companies

The spectrum belongs to the operators and will have to negotiate with them to display their satellite mobile network

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In January we knew that Starlink activated the direct cellular connection for mobileregardless of whether or not they have satellite connection. So that the system, called Starlink Direct To Cell, Offer mobile internet to any mobile, you must do it through the frequencies that are in use by mobile operators. Here comes the delicate. The situation. As our partners say Xataka mobilefor a company for a company like Starlink or Project Kuiper de Amazon Give us mobile connectivity, you need to do it through the frequencies that are already used for classical mobile networks. The problem is that these bands are licensed by Movistar, Vodafone and Orange. A possible route. Taking into account that Starlink and company are competitors, it is expected that the operators will want an agreement in which they do not be harmed. A possible route would be to negotiate the use of the bands with the regulatory agencies, thus jumping to the operators, but it will not be possible. The GSMA has spoken. It is the Association of Mobile Operators and organizer of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Have published A statement in which they give a series of guidelines for coexistence between land operators and satellite operators. The document establishes that Starlink and company must negotiate directly with the operators, who are the owners of the land spectrum. Marking territory. With this statement, the GSMA does not want to stop the arrival of satellite mobile connectivity services, but to mark its territory and defend what has cost so much to achieve terrestrial operators. To put it in context, in 2021 The 700 MHz band was auctioned and Spanish operators paid more than 1,000 million euros for their hole. It has all the meaning that they are who negotiate who uses their spectrum. Starlink has already negotiated similar agreements with operators from other countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada or Switzerland, so it is not something alien to the company. Of the satellite to the mobile. To offer internet to any mobile, Starlink uses a network of satellites that operate in the Leo orbit. These satellites fly lower to facilitate connectivity, about 360 kilometers from the surface. According to Starlink herself, they already have more than 600 satellites from their Direct To Cell network that add to the more than 8,000 satellites they have in orbit. If you want to continue expanding it to more countries, they will have to reach new agreements and pay what corresponds to use the frequencies. Cover image | Wikipedia, Apple In Xataka | China increasingly dominates technology on earth. There is a place where it is still far from the West: space

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