Catalunya launches another nano-satellite to help in climate change fight

A SECOND nano-satellite is set to be launched into space from Catalunya this autumn, with a budget of €1.7 million, as part of the ongoing fight against climate change.

It will collect data from 'watching' the earth in a range of spectral bands, giving scientists the information they need to monitor global warming, its process and effects, work out what to do to slow it down, and how to minimise the damage by devising ways of adapting to the more extreme weather and harsher conditions that come with it.

The first extra-small satellite – weighing around 4.2 kilos, or about the equivalent of just over four litre cartons of milk, or a small adult cat – went up in March 2021, primarily to support the 5G roll-out and provide internet and mobile phone coverage to all of Catalunya's residential areas, however remote.

It also serves the purpose of data collation for tackling climate change, and so far, the satellite baptised Enxaneta has managed to collect a huge corpus of information of vital help to the wine and vineyard industries.

Once again, the second satellite, which is double the size of Enxaneta, will go up from the world's first-ever space base – the Cosmodrome in Baykonur, Kazakhstan, and will cost more than three-and-a-half times the €574,000 spent on the initial launch 11 months ago.

As yet unnamed, the nano-satellite will monitor information relating to droughts, rivers and air temperatures, says deputy president of Catalunya regional government, Jordi Puigneró.

These data might be able to track severe weather fronts, such as the infamous 'Storm Gloria' of early 2020, shortly before they strike, whilst working out their direction and behaviour, allowing authorities to take useful decisions proactively.

Catalunya wants to 'continue progressing in the new space economy', having set aside €7.4m this year towards developing it, believing it could present 'great job opportunities'.

“Just a few years ago, nobody would have predicted that the government of Catalunya would be immersed in the nano-satellite space race, because we'd always thought that this was the prerogative of large States and huge space agencies,” admits Puigneró.

“Not only have we sent up one nano-satellite, but we're about to send up a second one.

“We're a small country [for Catalunya], but one that's always looking to the future.”

Catalunya's NewSpace strategy was launched in 2020, with the idea of sending up to six nano-satellites into orbit using 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT), which would keep costs down.

These satellites will all be under 10 kilos – roughly the weight of a standard airline cabin bag – and are designed to hover in shallow orbit, around two kilometres above the earth's atmosphere, rather than 32 kilometres, as is the norm for a standard-sized, and much more expensive, satellite.