Xatcobeo, originally known as ''Dieste'', is a project to build the first Galician

artificial satellite 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 radioisoto ...

developed by Agrupación Estratéxica Aeroespacial (currently

Alén Space Alén Space is a Spanish company in the NewSpace sector, located in Vigo ( Galicia, Spain). Alén Space designs, constructs, and develops software and hardware for artificial satellites. Since 2008, the company builds nanosatellites below CubeSat ...

) 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 ...

and leadered by Fernando Aguado in collaboration with 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 with the support of the Galician

government-owned corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

Retegal. The project was presented to 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 ...

for its launch in the inaugural flight of the

Vega rocket Vega ( it, Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, or french: Vecteur européen de génération avancée, or en, European Vector of Advanced Generation, meaning "Advanced generation European carrier rocket") is an expendable launch system in ...

from the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...

, in

Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...

(

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

). Its life will be between 6 and 12 months, and its cost will be around 1.2 million

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s, being 50% funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Investigación of Spain, 25% by Retegal and in the last 25% jointly by the University of Vigo and INTA. It is a

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 ...

-type satellite and its objective will be to do research related with

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

s and with

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...

in satellites.

External links

Xatcobeo Web

Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC) Web

Laboratory of Applied Computer Science (LIA) Web
La Región
, november 22, 2009
National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) Web

Superior Technical School of Telecommunication Engineering Web

Superior Technical School of Computer Science Engineering Web

University of Vigo WebEuropean Space Agency Website: "Meet the teams: Xatcobeo"Xatcobeo - eoPortal Directory - Satellite Missions

References

Science and technology in Galicia (Spain) Student satellites CubeSats Satellites of Spain Spacecraft launched in 2012 Spacecraft launched by Vega rockets 2012 in Spain INTA satellites {{Spain-spacecraft-stub

See also

External links

References