Open Cosmos inaugurates its new facilities in Barcelona with the Menut satellite

• Open Cosmos has announced the inauguration of its new facilities in Barcelona, where it will invest, together with the GPAINNOVA technological platform, in state-of-the-art laboratories for the manufacture of satellites.
• The space company Open Cosmos has also announced that in the coming years it will invest 10 million euros in Barcelona and create 50 direct high-skilled jobs and more than 150 indirect jobs.
• The Menut satellite was also present at the event, promoted by the Government of Catalonia and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia.

Barcelona, 11 October 2022. The space company Open Cosmos presented its new facilities this morning in Barcelona, where it will invest, together with the GPAINNOVA technological platform, in state-of-the-art laboratories for the manufacture of satellites.

Likewise, Open Cosmos has also advanced the expansion of its investment plan in Catalonia which, among other aspects, explores the investment of 10 million euros in Barcelona over the next few years and the creation of 50 direct high-skilled jobs, which will attract talent that is now scattered throughout the world in organizations as emblematic as NASA, and more than 150 indirect jobs.

“The space industry is in full revolution, and we hope that the investments that Open Cosmos is making in Barcelona will catalyze the growth of the entire ecosystem with ambitious tractor projects that will boost the entire industrial and technological fabric that exists,” - Rafel Jordá, founder of Open Cosmos.

In the new facilities of Open Cosmos, there was also the Menut satellite, promoted by the Government of Catalonia and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia.

Menut, the first Earth observation satellite of Catalonia's new space strategy, has been designed and manufactured by Open Cosmos and, when launched, will also be operated by the space company. The satellite will be able to take images at 5 meters resolution of any place in the world. Menut will prioritize the taking of images over Catalonia, whilst using the latest AI technologies to analyze and monitor the impact of climate change in the region.

During the last few days, Menut has passed the final functional and optical tests with technicians from the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia and the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia, who have been able to verify first-hand the capabilities of the satellite.

Additionally Menut will be part of the OpenConstellation, a project that was born with the aim of becoming the largest shared global infrastructure of Earth observation satellites in the world. With satellites contributed by space agencies, countries, institutions and companies, in order to address the key challenges facing us today. Climate change, the energy crisis, sustainability and disaster management, among others.

The strong new space strategy and the growth of the tech and space industry in Catalonia are the main reasons why Open Cosmos has decided to grow its facilities in Barcelona where, as already mentioned above, it will deploy powerful investments together with GPAINNOVA that will allow it to have state-of-the-art facilities in satellite manufacturing in Catalonia.

“Only what is measured can be improved, and satellites like Menut are essential to measure the climate emergency and have information to respond effectively to increasingly frequent natural disasters such as fires or floods. We are committed to this cause and prepared to make the necessary investments in the new facilities that we have inaugurated in Barcelona to be able to manufacture as many satellites as required by administrations and private companies” - Rafel Jordá.

After this morning's presentation, Menut has left to join the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which will be launched on December 6 from Cape Canaveral, the historic launch center in the United States.