The first very high resolution Basque satellite will be launched into space this week

The Bilbao-based company specializing in earth observation technologies, Satlantis, is going to launch its first optical satellite into orbit on May 25, which will offer extremely high-resolution images that will be used for agricultural and environmental planning.

Preparing for a space engineering project takes time, and after eight years of research and the last 15 months of construction and integration work on the satellite, this week the Basque company is going to launch Urdaneta-Armsat1 into orbit, its first satellite complete.

The launch scheduled for May 25 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States, will mark the third space mission for the company specializing in Earth observation technologies from that base.

What makes this satellite special, apart from the fact that it is the first one to put Satlantis into orbit, is that it is equipped with two optical channels that offer up to four spectral bands and the high resolution of two meters. In turn, it is provided with an iSIM-90 camera, a high-resolution binocular telescope, which has been developed at the University of the Basque Country.

Image of the Urdaneta-Armsat1 manufactured by Satlantis

The work of this satellite is mainly for observation and the images it takes will be used for agricultural and environmental planning as well as for civil protection purposes. The Urdaneta-Armsat1 is named after the sailor Andrés de Urdaneta, who discovered the route back to Spain from the Philippines.

The project had the participation of many workers and partners to be able to move it forward, especially for the development of technology focused on extreme precision mechanics, optics, software and electrical manufacturing. But this 16U CubeSat, a 16-cube nanosatellite, won’t be the last we hear from Satlantis as the company has seven more space missions on the agenda in the near future, the next one scheduled to be around Christmas.

The launch of the Urdaneta-Armsat1 represents a great step towards Spain’s active participation in space, and although we are still very far from countries like China, Russia or the United States, the impulse and example that they give from Satlantis can motivate other companies to continue with the space race from our country.