Satellites orbit hundreds and thousands of kilometers above the Earth, but their services are closer to us than we can imagine. This is the era of New Space, where private companies collaborate with the public sector to form an ecosystem that has democratized access to space and its benefits. In this spirit, Seville will host the first edition of ‘New Space & Solutions’.
The location of the event is not trivial, since the capital of Seville has become an aerospace hub in recent years: it already hosts the headquarters of the recently launched Spanish Space Agency (AEE) and in 2024 was designated as the European Space Capital.
Aerospace Ecosystem
In this context, Telespazio Ibérica, a leading company in geoinformation and spatial solutions in Spain, is demonstrating how Space is closer to citizens and their lives than they themselves think.
The company, for example, uses satellite imagery to produce maps to support emergency services during natural disasters, such as for the DANA that affected 78 municipalities in the Valencian Community, Andalusia and other areas of Spain towards the end of last year. A damage assessment report is also generated: in the Malaga municipality of Alhaurín de la Torre, more than 20 hectares were flooded and some 130 buildings were damaged.
In addition, Telespazio Ibérica uses satellite images, which it processes with artificial intelligence algorithms, to identify roofs containing asbestos, a highly carcinogenic material that all municipalities in Spain must have inventoried and removed according to a planning schedule that runs until 2028.
The technology used is based on the analysis of photographs taken from space. The best images provide a resolution of up to 30 centimeters in overlapping layers with precise light capture frequencies or spectral signatures that allow determining the composition of the roofs, with a success rate of 97%.
Biodiversity preservation and fire fighting
Telespazio Ibérica also contributes with its space solutions to the preservation of biodiversity in various autonomous communities, such as what the Xunta de Galicia is doing to protect the mussel, the mussel farm, on its coasts and, with it, a strategic sector for the Galician economy.
The Junta de Andalucía is also making a firm commitment in this sense, to promote the use of unmanned aircraft with high performance sensors for video and image processing in real time with artificial intelligence technology for the monitoring of fishing vessels or the cleaning of firebreaks.
Precisely, related to fires, in the Canary Islands, specifically in Fuerteventura, it is deploying, together with the Andalusian Pegasus Aero Group, a project to use satellites, drones and other aircraft in the fight against mega forest fires such as the one in Los Angeles that devastated residential areas equivalent to the entire city of Seville. These ‘sixth generation’ fires, with unpredictable and extremely violent behavior, have increased exponentially due to climate change and the alteration of ecosystems. Their high intensity and rapid spread make them difficult to extinguish.
The ISSEC project, with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), will count before the summer with cutting-edge technology for this mission: the Falco EVO of the Italian industrial group Leonardo, a remotely piloted aircraft with a wingspan of 12.5 meters, which stands out for its ability to fly for more than 20 continuous hours at an altitude of up to 6,400 meters.
Precisely, the CEO of Telespazio Ibérica, Carlos Fernandez de la Peña, will participate in the first edition of ‘New Space & Solutions’, who will explain details of their geoinformation projects where Fuerteventura stands out and that has the Falco EVO and stratospheric vehicles as data sources for improved fire management.
The agenda of ‘New Space & Solutions’ in Seville includes two face-to-face sessions (Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 March) at the Cartuja Auditorium -managed by Yventu- and three virtual sessions (Wednesday 19, Thursday 20 and Friday 21 March).
All presentations will be available for on-demand viewing through El Observatorio, the digital platform of Medina Media Events, where each intervention will be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, free of charge.
The first edition of ‘New Space & Solutions’ is organized by Medina Media Events with the collaboration of the City of Seville and the Ministry of University, Research and Innovation of the Andalusian Government and has the support of Rohde & Schwarz, ALTER, Ansys, Augusta Abogados, CT Ingenieros, DEKRA, Integrasys, Parsec, Government of the Canary Islands -through Proexca-, Space-Aero, Loyola Andalucía University, CEU University Fernando III, among others.