Telespazio Ibérica Secures €21.3M Canary Islands Satellite Contract

Telespazio Ibérica SLU is set to win a major contract worth 21.3 million euros from the Cabildo (the island government). The contract is for designing, building, launching, operating, and collecting images from a new Earth-orbit satellite system called 'Constelación Islas Canarias' (Canary Islands Constellation).

Telespazio Ibérica SLU scored highest among the three companies that bid for the project, based on both technical and financial evaluations. The Cabildo's Contracting Board recommended them for the award, and this recommendation was approved by the Island Department of Research, Innovation, and Development. This information was recently published on the Cabildo's official contracting platform.

Assuming no unexpected issues arise during the final stages of the process, Telespazio Ibérica SLU will be responsible for designing, building, and launching this eight-satellite constellation. The company is part of the Telespazio Group, an Italian firm established in 1961. Based in Rome, the Group specializes in satellite technology services and geoinformation applications, operating in fifteen countries and managing four space centers.

It's worth noting that one of the other bidders, Open Cosmos Canarias, was disqualified. According to official documents, they failed to meet several key clauses and annexes of the contract's administrative rules, and also violated fundamental principles of public procurement law.

This project, a collaboration with the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and other local tech organizations, aims to build a low-orbit satellite system. This system will provide daily images of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro, with on-demand images available for the rest of the Canary Islands. The real-time satellite data will be crucial for detecting and preventing forest fires and other natural disasters, monitoring the impacts of climate change, and improving the management of water and natural resources, among other important applications.

The Cabildo expects the design and development phases to begin in 2026, following the contract award. The satellite constellation is then planned to become operational in 2028.