The new SLS rocket that NASA has built to send astronauts back to the Moon, whose first launch was postponed last weekend, has Spanish technology on board.
The thermal control unit, which regulates the temperatures of the Orion capsule in which the astronauts will travel, has been entirely developed at the Airbus Espacio España facilities in Tres Cantos, in the Community of Madrid. It is a ten kilo instrument with 10,000 electronic components that controls the temperature in 235 points of the capsule, from the fuel tank to the astronauts' cabin, and in whose development dozens of engineers have participated over four years .
The thermal control unit of the Orion capsule symbolizes the current state of the space sector in Spain: small in volume, competitive in quality and with the prospect of taking off towards more ambitious goals.
“The Spanish space industry is very solid and has great prestige in Europe. The quality of our companies has nothing to envy to those of other countries”, highlights the engineer Miguel Belló, Commissioner for the Aerospace Department.
In quantity, other countries are ahead. Spain's public investment in non-military uses of space (8.4 euros per inhabitant per year, according to the latest data published by the association of aerospace companies Tedae) is small compared to that of France (42.6 euros per inhabitant). , Germany (29.2), Italy (23.7) or Belgium (23.7).
At a time when the space sector is making a transition equivalent to what the aeronautical sector did in the past, which started with public companies before reaching private commercial exploitation, different countries are positioning themselves so that their companies are competitive in the new economy of space.
Elon Musk's SpaceX company, with its Falcon rockets, its Crew Dragon astronaut capsule and its Starlink satellite constellation, is the most mediatic example of this transition. But the greatest growth is occurring in less flashy missions, based on small satellites that fly in low orbits and cost less than the large satellites of the past, as well as in the exploitation of satellite data, ranging from weather forecasting to vehicle navigation or financial transactions.
The global market for the commercial exploitation of satellite data amounts to 150,000 million dollars a year, to which must be added another 40,000 million for the construction of satellites, according to a report by the consulting firm McKinsey
In this context, the Government approved the Aerospace Perte in March to promote the sector in Spain. The plan foresees mobilizing 400 million euros -of which half will come from public funds- in three main projects: the development of a Spanish rocket for the emerging market of small satellites; the launch of a constellation of 16 Earth observation satellites in collaboration with Portugal to monitor the effects of climate change; and the creation of a satellite quantum communication system to guarantee the security of messages.
As an additional measure to promote the sector, the reform of the Science Law published this week in the BOE provides for the creation of a Spanish Space Agency. The agency is an old vindication of the space companies, which have been harmed for years by the dispersion of decisions between ministries. The lack of a space agency in Spain was an anomaly in the European context, where countries such as France, Germany, Italy or Belgium, which dedicate a higher percentage of their GDP to this area, do have this government coordination body.
As declared by the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, when presenting the Aerospace Perte, "Spain will be in the international race to conquer space".
If it has not been in a good position so far in this race, it is for historical reasons. It should be remembered that the space industry was born around the 1960s, when Spain was a dictatorship and did not have the same technological and scientific development priorities as other European countries. While France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom developed the space technologies that later gave them leadership in the European context, Spain lagged behind.
Later, when the European Space Agency (ESA) was created in 1975 to coordinate the space activities of the different countries, it did so with the mandate to develop only civil uses of space. Spain, where the few space projects were controlled by the armed forces, again found itself at a disadvantage.
Spain's contribution to the ESA's optional programs - those that can offer the greatest economic return, unlike the mandatory programs - is three times lower than that of France and Belgium and approximately half that of Italy and Germany, according to data from the association of companies Tedae calculated as a percentage of the GDP of each country.
Despite this disadvantage, Spanish companies have achieved a technological excellence that has allowed them to start leading international projects, instead of limiting themselves to participating in projects led from other countries.
The Cheops space telescope, launched in 2019 to search for exoplanets, was built by Airbus Espacio in Tres Cantos, making it the first project in the history of ESA led from Spain. Airbus Espacio has won another 380 million euro contract to build the future European Earth observation satellite LSTM in Tres Cantos, which is due to be launched in 2029
Also for historical reasons, the financing of the ESA destined to Spanish companies has been concentrated mainly in the Community of Madrid. The dialogue between the ESA and its member states is carried out through the central governments, without the intervention of the autonomous communities -or equivalent territories-.
In Spain, of the 25 space companies associated with Tedae -which represent the traditional space sector that participates in European programs-, 17 have their headquarters in the Community of Madrid. The rest are divided between the Basque Country (3), the Valencian Community (2), Navarra (1), Andalusia (1) and Catalonia (1).
This has led Catalonia to develop its own strategy with the objective of positioning itself in the emerging market of small satellites that are sent to low orbits, reports Josep Colomé, director of the Space Sector Promotion Area at the Institute of Spatial Studies of Catalonia (IEEC).
The first of these satellites, built by the company Sateliot and called Enxaneta, was put into orbit in March 2021 from Baikonur (Kazakhstan) with a Soyuz rocket with the aim of developing communication technology for the internet of things. The next one, built by Open Cosmos and called Menut, will launch in the coming months to develop Earth observation technology.
