Alén Space is a Spanish company in the

NewSpace Private spaceflight is spaceflight or the development of spaceflight technology that is conducted and paid for by an entity other than a government agency. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Unio ...

sector, located in

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

( Galicia,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

). Alén Space designs, constructs, and develops software and hardware for

artificial satellites A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

. Since 2008, the company builds nanosatellites below

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

requirements.

History

Alén Space specializes in turnkey solutions for space business. It was established in 2007 through a joint initiative between the

Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial The Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial «Esteban Terradas» (INTA, ) is an autonomous agency of the Spanish public administration dependent on the Secretariat of State for Defence (SEDEF). It is responsible for the aerospace, aerona ...

(INTA) and those interested in launching a miniature satellite or nano-satellite for use in

Internet of Things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other comm ...

(IoT) applications, Aircraft Surveillance, and advanced

Signals Intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

(

SIGINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

), which makes it possible to analyse electromagnetic spectrum and to identify signals originating in the Earth and outer-space. Thanks to this initiative, the Strategic Aerospace Group of the

University of Vigo The University of Vigo ( gl, Universidade de Vigo) is a public university located in the city of Vigo in the Province of Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain. There are three campuses: * Campus of Vigo in Lagoas-Marcosende, between the municipalities of ...

was founded. It is made up of a team from various departments and led by Fernando Aguado. The design and manufacture of

Xatcobeo Xatcobeo, originally known as ''Dieste'', is a project to build the first Galician artificial satellite developed by Agrupación Estratéxica Aeroespacial (currently Alén Space) of the University of Vigo and leadered by Fernando Aguado in collab ...

began in 2012, which went on to become the first Spanish nano-satellite. The Humsat-D satellite] was launched in 2013, and the Serpens, launched in 2015, in collaboration with the

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is an office of the U.N. Secretariat that promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in outer space. It works to establish or strengthen the legal and regulatory framew ...

(UNOOSA) and by the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

(ESA). In 2017, with the funding of the Ignacia Program of the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) of the

Xunta de Galicia The Xunta de Galicia (; "Regional Government of Galicia") is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-President(s) and the specialized ministers (''Consell ...

, the aerospace company Alén Space was founded as a

university spin-off University spin-offs (also known as university spin-outs) are companies that transform technological inventions developed from university research that are likely to remain unexploited otherwise. They are a subcategory of research spin-offs. Promi ...

. In 2018, it became of the 100 most-important startups of 2018 according to the

South Summit The South Summit is a subsidiary peak of Mount Everest in the Himalayas between the South Col (at ) and the main summit (at ) above sea level. Although the South Summit's elevation of is higher than the second-highest mountain on Earth ( K2), i ...

organisation, and won the

Cinco Días ''Cinco Días'' (Spanish: ''Five Days'') is a business and finance newspaper published in Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1978 it is the oldest business newspaper in the country. History and profile ''Cinco Días'' was first published in March 1978. T ...

award for innovation. In 2019, it received a €1 million investment round from CDTI and BeAble Capital. In 2020, it was chosen as Best Space Startup at the South Europe Startup Awards (SESA). In 2020
Sateliot
a satellite telecommunications operator, under
5G architecture
announced an alliance with Alén Space. The alliance helped develop the payload of its first nano-satellites. The aim was to make the first launch in late 2020. It will incorporate this nano-satellite consisting of an SDR (

Software Defined Radio Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in analog hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by ...

) card, where the received signals are processed and signals to be sent are generated so that they are transmitted to the ground. In addition to a radio frequency conditioning plate and a usable antenna that will allow communication with terrestrial devices.https://alen.space/es/sateliot-ultima-con-alen-space-la-tecnologia-que-ira- a-bordo-de-su-primer-nanosatelite/

Developed satellites

(2012) * Humsat-D (2013) * DustCube (2015–16) * Serpens (2015) *

Lume-1 The Lume-1 is a Spanish nanosatellite developed for educational and scientific purposes by the University of Vigo in cooperation with Alén Space, the University of Porto and the French National Centre of Scientific Research. The satellite is p ...

(2018)

References

External links

Official website
* {{Twitter, alenspace Space program of Spain Companies based in Galicia (Spain) Spacecraft manufacturers Aerospace companies of Spain University spin-offs