The Catalan satellite manufacturing company Open Cosmos has won a new contract from the Generalitat of Catalonia. The company headed by Rafel Jorda will design and produce the satellite platform PhotoSat Mission organized by the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC). In addition, it will be in charge of launching the device as well as its maintenance and decommissioning at the end of its useful life.
Open Cosmos will manufacture the platform or support for the small satellite, type cubesatwhich will carry a payload consisting of two telescopes designed by the IEEC itself. The objective of the mission will be to observe astronomical phenomena that cannot be adequately characterized from Earth.
Research from ground-based observatories is limited by the filtering and distortion of electromagnetic radiation due to the atmosphere and the daily cycle that limits the time during which each celestial object can be observed. By avoiding the Earth’s atmosphere, observations gain in precision and range.
The prize is worth 2.4 million euros. The satellite is expected to be put into orbit by the end of 2025.
A “super contract” in Greece
To date, Open Cosmos has manufactured two nanosatellites for the Generalitat, to which another will be added at the end of 2025. The gadgets designed by Open Cosmos are called Enxaneta And Menu –Catalonia has a third satellite in operation, Minairoin the preparation of which the company did not participate. How did it progress? elEconomista.esThe group will manufacture a total of 22 satellites throughout this year.
One of the company’s latest contracts was with the Greek government, for which it will create a constellation of satellites worth 60 million euros. This is the largest order in the company’s history. This program will be carried out in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and will be compatible with the Atlantic Constellation satellite constellation, in which Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal also participate.
Recently, Open Cosmos inaugurated a room white in its Barcelona facilities to increase its production capacity. The aseptic facility, located next to the company’s offices, has a size of 90 meters, expandable up to 300 meters in a later phase.
45 million spins
In September last year, the company 45 million euros raised as part of a round of funding led by investment funds ETF Partners, Trill Impact and A&G.
Currently, the company’s activity is divided into three branches: Open orbitthe division from start to finish design, construction, launch and operation of satellites; Open Constellationwhich enables organizations to access and share data using a shared satellite infrastructure, and CosmosDataa data platform designed for solution design.
