The Spanish PAZ satellite was successfully launched yesterday from the Vandenberg AF Base in California.

The Paz mission, the radar part of the National Earth Observation Satellite Programme (PNOTS), will put Spain at the forefront of the European space industry, making it the third European country (alongside Germany and Italy) to have a satellite with synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The satellite has dual civil-military capabilities and will primarily be used for security and defence needs, but also for certain civil purposes.

As part of the Innovation Horizons Network, on Wednesday, 21 February, the Honourable Dean of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Mr Guillermo Cisneros Pérez, And Isdefe’s CEO, Mr Francisco Quereda Rubio, entered into an agreement to create the Isdefe Chair on Air Traffic Management at the Advanced School of Aeronautics and Space Engineering (ETISAE). The purpose of the new Chair is to engage in technology foresight and analysis activities, as well as to generate and disseminate knowledge in the area of Air Traffic Management (ATM).

Daniel Acuña, Isdefe’s Director of Defence and Security, moderated the expert panel on “Protecting people and institutions” at the CERES Workshop, which was held on 7 and 8 Februart at the headquarters of the Royal Mint of Spain (FNMT-RCM).

CERES, organised by FNMT-RCM in concert with related public institutions, is a meeting point for managers from public agencies and companies involved in the rapid development of the world of technology.

The fourth edition of the Masnatur Foundation Christmas Party, organised by Isdefe at the Hotel Ilunion Pío XII, which is accessible to all, was held on 17 December.

Forty-seven children from the Foundation enjoyed this event, along with Isdefe and Masnatur volunteers, as they took in a busy schedule of events, singing and dancing. The party featured a visit from St. Nick, who gave each child a bag of gifts purchased with funds raised during charity drives held by the company’s employees.

The Minister of Defence, Ms María Dolores de Cospedal, presided over the presentation ceremony for the 2017 Navy Awards.

The event, held on Wednesday the 14th in the Hall of 19th Century Ships in the Navy Museum at the Navy Headquarters, was attended by the Secretary of State for Defence, Mr Agustín Conde Bajén, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Army General Fernando Alejandre Martínez, the Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral Teodoro López Calderón, and the Secretary General for Defence Policy, Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez, as well as by other VIPs.

On 28 November, the Association of Spanish Graduates in Security and Defence (ADESyD) held its 4th Congress, which gathered together experts from academia, the military, police, Civil Guard  and the business world under the theme “Sharing (visions of) Security”.

The Congress saw debates on current security topics over the course of four roundtables on National, International, Public and Private Security, which underscored the unifying role of security and the importance of promoting a culture of security to drive the national security system.

Mr Jesús Alonso, Isdefe’s Director of Business Development, took part in the presentation on “The Future of the Defence Industry” during a workshop titled “The Value of Spain’s Aerospace Industry”, which was organised by the Official Institute of Spanish Aerospace Engineers (COIAE) and Fly News at the facilities of the Spanish Institute of Engineering on 27 November.

His presentation focused on two catalysing elements in this transformative process: the rising international prominence of this sector and the technological challenges.

The Secretary of State for Defence, Agustín Conde, closed out the 5th National Congress on Defence and Security R&D, which was held from 22 to 24 November at the Infantry Academy in Toledo and organised by the Ministry of Defence’s Sub-Directorate General for Planning, Technology and Innovation (SDGPLATIN), in collaboration with Isdefe.

The Congress has turned into a prominent gathering for presenting the results of the most recent technological and scientific work, facilitating the exchange of expertise, ideas and research projects in various areas of knowledge.

On 16 November, the Army’s War College hosted the ceremony for the 55th edition of these awards.

Presiding over the gala was the Minister of Defence, Ms María Dolores de Cospedal, and the Army’s Chief of Staff, General Francisco Javier Varela Salas. Attending the event were the Head of the General Directorate for Armaments and Materiel (DIGAM), Lieutenant General Juan Manuel García Montaño, the Head of the Logistical Support Command, Lieutenant General Ramón Pardo de Santayana and other high-ranking civilian and military officials.

This past October, the workshop organised by the Defence and Security Defence Technologies Foundation was held at the Ministry of the Interior’s Technology Security Centre (CETSE).

The Head of the Surveillance Public Security Technologies Department, Juan Carlos Iravedra, from Isdefe’s Defence and Security Office, took part in a roundtable on “An Insight into Big Data from Solution Integrators”.