hywel: Hello everybody, I'm your host Howell Curtis, and I'd like to
welcome you to The Space Industry by Satsurge, where we share stories about
the companies taking us into orbit.
In this podcast, we delve into the opinions and expertise of the
people behind the commercial space organizations of today, who could
become the household names of tomorrow.
Before we get started with the episode, remember, you can find out
more information about the suppliers, products, and innovations that are
mentioned in this discussion on the Global Marketplace for Space at satserge.
com.
Hello everyone and welcome to today's episode of the Space
Industry Podcast by Satserge.
I'm joined today by Nikos from Allenspace.
Now, Alan Space is a space company based in Spain, which specializes in small
satellite technology in various areas.
They offer kind of everything from individual subsystems and ground
stations through platforms and even end to end mission support.
And Alan Space is also a Satsrush Trusted Supplier.
Now, today we're going to be talking about advanced communications applications.
in the space industry day.
Very important topic as we're seeing the nature of missions change, companies
scaling up certain areas and indeed demand growing in different geographies
and different aspects of the global industries, terrestrial industries.
Yes, could be really interesting to get into this and get Nicholas's
perspective and hear more about Alan Spacer's work in this area.
Firstly, Nikos, welcome to the podcast.
Great to have you here with us today.
I wondered if you could set the scene a little bit for our listeners by
giving us a quick overview of your background and explain what Alan
Space is working on today beyond the very brief intro that I just gave.
Yes.
nikos: Hello.
How well thank you for having me here.
I'm really glad to be in this podcast with you and thank
you also for the introduction.
So my name is Nikos Nikolopoulos and I am a space sales engineer in ALEN space.
So basically my background is in electrical and computer engineering
with a master's in space technologies.
And I have been working with ALEN for the past few months.
Now what Len is doing, as you mentioned we're offering core technologies that
revolve around space communication.
Talking about SDRs, ground stations OBCs and the like, then our solutions
scale up to complete end to end.
Thank you.
Satellite missions.
And our company has more than 15 years of experience as our team of core founders
has been collaborating since 2008.
And we were officially established as a company in 2018.
A major milestone also in our history was our acquisition by GMV in 2023.
And so far we are sporting a hundred percent success in our projects.
So this is something quick to set the scene about Alan Space and myself.
hywel: Fantastic.
Yeah, that's about as good a success rate as you can hope for.
Thank you very much for giving the listeners an introduction
there to, to Alan Space.
Now, as I mentioned briefly in the introduction, we're seeing
increasing interest in communication solutions that involve space systems.
And these are space based systems, now these are being seen in different
industries, as I mentioned, different geographies, but what do you think?
Could you go into more detail and explain what do you think is
driving this increased interest and appetite for communication systems
with the space based element?
nikos: Yes, indeed, as you mentioned, we're seeing an increased demand for
this type of applications, but to assess the reason, For this demand.
We need to take a step back and see how space is actually
involved in our lives right now.
So actually, space is becoming a key protagonist in modern society.
And the reason is that it can provide solutions for demanding challenges.
For example, climate change, natural disasters,
governmental, civil applications.
We can do research in space in many scientific fields, et cetera.
Now, on the other hand, we also have some significant geopolitical
incidents that have been taking place as of recent, as we all know.
So there we have seen that space can provide solutions for such crises as well.
Now as you understand, all this leads nations and private companies to turn
more and more to space solutions.
So as a result, the space sector is booming.
This is the overall scene, let's say.
And yes, specifically for the communications applications it's
one of the main uses of space.
We have, for example, the need for connectivity from space, satellite
broadband connectivity, sorry, 5G IOT.
So there are other applications as a spectrum monitoring vessel tracking, a lot
of applications related to communication.
And of course, communications are at the heart of virtually any space mission.
Because you need to transmit data to Earth and from Earth.
Tied together this is the reason I think we're seeing this increased
demand for communications applications.
hywel: Okay, brilliant.
Yeah, absolutely.
Makes sense when you you consider that The prime by far the primary mode of value
exchange to and from space yet is in terms of the data, which is all handled by the
communication systems and then there, as you mentioned, there's all these different
areas where the appetite for this data is is emerging is growing and and in some
cases has been there for a long time.
That's great.
It makes sense that we're seeing this drive in the industry.
And specifically for the communication systems, this is an area where we have
seen new space solutions gain some traction, as opposed to those legacy old
space custom developed larger systems, all the kind of traditional split between
the old space and new space new space comms solutions can sometimes offer.
Systems, with shorter lead times and lower prices, which has been the
selling point for a lot of the companies that have cropped up in this area,
what does Alan space specifically offer in terms of yeah, communication
systems in that could be said to be in a new space mode of delivery.
nikos: Yes.
The new space companies actually offer shortly times with a
commercial of the self components.
And as well, they offer small satellite platforms.
Both these aspects lead to a faster time from an inception of a space mission
until its realization and also lead to an increased return of investment.
So this has been a game changer.
At the same time, I would like to mention specifically for small satellites.
That by employing them in a constellation, you can cover
larger areas with low revisit time.
As these two aspects have changed the way space missions materialize we
have new breakthrough applications.
And for example, if a nation wants to monitor its territory for marine
traffic and do it frequently.
They can employ a constellation with AIS payloads to do that.
Yeah, this is just something to set the scene about the new
advancements in the new space sector.
Especially regarding the communications applications now, I
would like to mention the example of SDRs or software defined radios.
Now, these SDRs, they are platforms that integrate hardware and software
that make them highly configurable and allow the development of
applications by the end user.
And actually they can implement a lot of communication standards and
protocols, while at the same time, they can cover a wide range of frequencies.
Here we're talking about high versatility in these platforms.
So in this regard they can host applications such as A DSB for air
traffic monitoring, a IS or VDS.
These are some examples.
At the same time these SDRs can be used for telemetry and
telecom command purposes, or for.
Payload data transmission to Earth with high data rates.
They facilitate a fast transfer of valuable information
to Earth and from Earth.
Now in regards of what AlendSpace offers in this field we offer two
SDR platforms Totem and Trevo.
Actually integrates one system on ship and one transceiver and travo
is highly modular and can integrate up to two and up to two transceivers.
So with these two SDRs we can cover a wide range of potential mission objectives.
The choice between these two SDRs depends on the requirements
that our customers have.
So depending on if they have requirements for higher processing
power or simultaneous execution of applications, for example.
Yes, this was a quick summary of the SDR platforms and what Alen offers
for this specific type of product.
hywel: Okay, fantastic.
Yeah, the software defined category is, is a very interesting one that I
think as we're seeing more demand for versatile missions and systems that
can be have different mission profiles or change in mission profiles as well.
I think this idea of a communication system reliant upon an SDR that.
Has the ability to operate in these very different ways is yeah very interesting.
nikos: Exactly, and practically the end user can also, for example,
develop their own application based on our HDR platform and then see
these applications fly in space.
hywel: Yeah, fantastic.
Which is a capability that wasn't possible, 10, 15 years ago,
potentially without great costs.
So that's great.
What about the other subsystems that Alan Space manufactures?
Where do you see the market opportunities for these with the, it's such a clear,
niche or not niche, opportunity for SDRs.
But yeah where are the opportunities for the other systems?
nikos: Yes.
So apart from the SDR platforms that I mentioned before, Totem and Trevo, For
example, we offer three scale is the name of the product, which is an OBC
and telemetry tele command module hosted in the same PC 1 0 4 format module.
So we're talking about a two in one OBC and TT c in a single module that
actually space in the nano satellite platforms that we very well know
that they are volume constrained.
At the same time, I would like to mention and I'm really glad to mention that we're
soon launching a new OBC only subsystem.
So stay tuned for that.
Yep.
So apart from our OBC 3scale, OBC NTTC 3scale we offer ground stations.
That can facilitate communications with Leo satellites in the UHF VHF and S Pand.
Now our ground stations can be assembled by our customer and they can
implement multiple radio protocols so they can be used in various missions.
You have one ground station and then you can develop different types of
software modems and you can use the same ground station to talk to various
satellites in different bands, of course.
And finally, I would also like to mention our mission control software.
It's a solution that we have developed at Alen.
And it's actually an important interface that we use as part of our mission
implementation between ground and space.
It facilitates some interactions with the satellites in orbit
into it in an intuitive way.
And the MCS is actually the interface that allows us or our customer
Operate satellites and payloads while, of course, receiving telemetry
data and scientific measurements.
We can see that there are a lot of opportunities in the market for
this product because more and more customers, be them governmental
organizations, institutions or companies.
They're all reaching for space, and we see that the demand for small
satellite missions is increasing.
So our wide portfolio of products can cover the communications and data
handling needs that arise in this aspect.
hywel: Excellent.
Thank you for that overview.
Yes, it certainly seems like a, I may be wrong but a portfolio
that has developed very logically.
Based on the needs of the customers over the years and and incorporating,
what is possible on the engineering side at Allen space and where
innovation could be brought to market.
Very interesting.
Thank you.
Now, you mentioned a little bit earlier the examples in the industry on the
demand side of kind of breakthrough applications such as maritime
tracking for a whole territory.
It was one of the examples that you gave and how this is now
more possible and cost effective.
using a space system or constellation now than it has been in years past
because the launch costs are lower, the technologies are better, the processes
and everything are proven and understood.
And I think this is a really key way in which the industry is maturing.
So important to recognize this, that these opportunities or These
application areas, they begin with a need with a problem on earth that
a certain organization has to solve.
And in these cases, the customers, the end users, the customers can sometimes be more
agnostic to the technology that is being used and the solutions that is being used
than, we see space missions built from a technologist's point of view and to try
and prove this out and prove that out.
Whereas the end users for Tresor applications want results.
I think in this case, we're also seeing this trend towards customers
looking for full mission design.
Particularly if they're new to the space industry or the space
application is complimentary to what they're doing terrestrially.
And as we mentioned at the start, I know Alan Space has an offer here as well.
So I wonder if you could discuss this, the end to end mission management aspect
of what you offer and where you see the advantages of companies working
with a partner like Alan Space lie and maybe touch on when teams should design
their own missions actually themselves.
nikos: Yes, exactly.
A lens space can design a full space mission can design develop
and materialize a full space mission beat for communications
or other types of applications.
That's, we're providing an end to end solution based on
our customers requirements.
This solution includes the satellite platform, the payload, the ground
station, the operation management, a true end to end solution.
Regarding the advantages of this approach let's say that a company or
an institution has designed a payload and the given company or institution
does not have the capacity to design and materialize a full space mission.
So they can just provide us with their payload and let
Alan take care of the rest.
Thus, we can guarantee a safe execution for the mission
objectives that our customer wants.
Of course, this also works if the payload is designed and manufactured by us.
Then the customer only has to give us his requirements and we take care, even
the payload design and development.
Now, another advantage of this approach is that, The customer does not have
to worry about compatibility issues, which to our experience is a common
occurrence when complex systems such the ones that are used in space
applications, interface with each other.
And this occurrence actually something that is not thoroughly assessed by those
that come up with a mission concept.
What we can guarantee with our end to end space mission solution is
uniform design and operation based on our in house developed technologies.
A true full turnkey solution.
And yes at the same time another added benefit of our
approach is that we can offer.
Educational courses for our customers teams.
So these courses are carried out during the mission development
and execution by us, and they revolve around assembly integration
and verification and operations.
For example, let's say that the university wants us to develop a mission.
Then in the.
Duration of the mission design development and execution, we can
have the student team here at our premises and train them so they can
get some know how and real industry experience about the processes used.
And also we can offer the same for example, for the
operations part of the mission.
So they can get their payload in orbit with low risk and at the same time
gain some new knowledge about how space missions actually materialize.
hywel: That's fantastic.
That's a really great way to approach this kind of upskilling and building capacity
in your customer base today and for the future and in the wider industry as well.
So that's great.
Thank you.
Thanks for explaining how how it works.
the mission management aspect of things work.
And I guess to bring this home a little bit more for the listeners out there,
could you share some information on what Alan Space is working on next
and, upcoming real missions and projects that you have in the pipeline?
nikos: Yes.
So actually right now we're expecting the launch of the satellite
constellation, 5G IOT constellation.
It is comprised of four 6U satellites.
It was designed and manufactured by LN Space.
And it will be launched in July hopefully as part of the Transporter
11 ride share mission with SpaceX.
And I would like to mention that we're really looking forward to that launch.
And also we are now materializing the SatMAR mission actually, this mission
involves the development of a 6U satellite platform hosting an SDR payload.
Designed and manufactured by us, and this payload will test the feasibility
of the VDES standard, which is actually an evolution of the AA standard to
maintain connectivity and communication at great distances from the coast.
And finally, I would also like to mention that we have an active role in the ESA
project called LEO PNT so Low Earth Orbit Position Navigation and Timing.
Where we're designing a satellite.
So for all these updates regarding our missions, stay tuned in our
social media and our website.
hywel: Oh, fantastic.
That's great.
Thank you.
And best of luck with all those missions and launches.
Always nervous times, but.
As the launch cadences and launch reliability is increasing
every year, maybe less and less nervous as with each iteration.
So great.
That's everything I wanted to ask you about in terms of Alan Spacer's
work and and on communication systems in space missions.
Finally, I just wondered Perhaps on a more personal level, if you could share
with us, I ask this question to a lot of our guests, a variation of this.
I wonder if you could share with us what you are most excited about in
the space industry in the next, say 10 years, this is a really exciting
time, lots of things going on.
And yeah, what's what are you, what's really interested you?
Yes.
nikos: So personally, and also all of us at Allen, we are looking forward to
contribute to the autonomy of Spain in the space sector, with the development
of cutting edge technologies that of course are beneficial for society.
And Spain is actually making a great effort to advance its space sector.
With the National Spanish Space Agency being operational since 2023.
Of course, by extension, this will contribute to the much needed autonomy
of Europe in this field as well.
Also personally, I'm really looking forward to the establishment
of human presence on the moon.
I think it's a, an event that cannot be overlooked.
And I also expect that the new space companies will be called
to play a really important role in this emerging lunar economy.
Of course, this endeavor of establishing bases and human presence on the moon will
act as a stepping stone to reach Mars.
And this thought of expanding our space.
Our presence in extraterrestrial bodies has been in the collective
mind of humanity for many years now.
And it is amazing to see it materialize slowly but surely in our days.
hywel: Fantastic.
Yeah, me too.
Thank you, Nikos.
This is a great place to wrap up.
I think it's Our audience will have learned a lot.
today from you about the different areas that Alan Space is working on, the
importance of these communication systems for space missions, bringing this added
ability to cope with the demand that's coming up and the versatility to adapt to
different mission scenarios, et cetera.
And, the role that SDRs have to play in that is it's obviously clear.
So that's fantastic.
Thank you.
And then explain in the other aspects of the products and services that
you offer and where they fit in and relate to actual real world missions,
which is the most important thing the actual, genuine results that we can get.
So thank you very much for sharing so much of this information with us
and with all our listeners today.
nikos: Thank you very much.
Hi, Will.
And I'm really looking forward to talking to you again.
It was a pleasure.
hywel: Yeah, absolutely.
We'll certainly do it again And to all our listeners out there, thank you too
for spending time with us today on the Space Industry Podcast by SatSearch.
We will include links in the show notes to all of the different products
and services that Nikos has mentioned that Alan Space offers today.
And yeah, you'll be able to find a lot more information on those.
Really appreciate you giving us your attention.
If you like the show, please do give it a rating and review on
your favorite podcast player.
It really helps us spread the word about the work that these companies are doing.
across the global sector are doing to improve the supply chain, improve
the value chain and take us all in some way or another into orbit.
So thank you and please stay tuned for the next episode of the Space
Industry Podcast, when it's live.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Space Industry by SatSearch.
I hope you enjoyed today's story about one of the companies taking us into orbit.
We'll be back soon with more in depth, behind the scenes insights
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