On 30 June and 1 July, the seventh summer course of the Antonio Remón y Zarco de Valle General Engineering Chair was held online with the title "Outer space: Technologies and Systems for a New Conflict Scenario."
This Isdefe special interest course was sponsored by the company as it focuses on the heart of Isdefe's activities and saw Jesús Alonso Martín, Isdefe's Business Development Director, and Isaac Domínguez Santos, Isdefe's Space and Technological Centres Director feature as speakers.
The Chair – formalised through an agreement between the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and the Centre for National Defence Studies (CESEDEN) of the Ministry of Defence – offers an overview of the state of the art and future evolution of technologies and applications involved in the space sector in this course.
Using the geostrategic aspects of the subject as a starting point, special attention has been afforded to R&D and innovation activities and the role Spain plays in this, where the analysis of this situation and the involvement of all actors – including public administrations, the Armed Forces, companies and universities – acquires significant importance in ensuring the role that our country must play in this new conflict scenario.
In terms of technology and business volumes, the Spanish space industry has achieved major levels and has high growth potential, as demonstrated in the recent announcement about the possibility of creating a Spanish Space Agency – confirming interest in this topic.
During the course, Jesús Alonso took part in the round table discussion: Strategic and Industrial Involvement in Spain, which was moderated by Brigadier General Francisco José Dacoba Cerviño and saw Pedro Andrés Fuster González, Deputy Director General of Inspection, Regulation and Industrial Defence Strategy of the Directorate-General of Armaments and Materials (DGAM); Carlos Montesano Benito, head of AIRBUS Research and Development; Ángel Álvaro Sánchez, R&D Manager of Thales-Alenia-Space; Gustavo Alonso, professor at the UPM and the "Ignacio Da Riva" Microgravity University Institute as speakers.
Isaac Domínguez took part in the third session of the course, with the theme "Accurate and Safe Satellite Positioning and Navigation: The Galileo System," in which Ángel Luis Moratilla, Deputy Director General of Space Systems at the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), also participated.