The Cabildo of Tenerife and the Spanish technology company Arquimea have signed an agreement this Tuesday to promote the creation of CanarySat, a satellite control center that will be installed at the Institute of Technology and Renewable Energies (ITER), as well as a gateway or teleport that will connect with Canalink, the neutral communications operator.
This teleport will be part of the CanarySat project that the technology company has launched. CanarySat is a company based in the Canary Islands that will manage and operate its own fleet of 66 telecommunications satellites and will provide services to other satellite operators and telecommunications providers globally, reports the Cabildo.
Its president, Rosa Dávila, has highlighted the Corporation’s commitment “to turn Tenerife into the epicenter of technological development in the Canary Islands, bridging the kilometer distances that previously distanced us from the most developed centers on the planet, thanks to our tax incentives and the opportunities that our geographical location also provides.”
The president highlighted that this project “represents a great opportunity for Tenerife and the entire Canary Islands, by turning the islands into a reference hub in telecommunications and satellite operations at a global level, thus responding to the growing global demand for telecommunications services by satellite”, and assured that CanarySat “will improve connectivity on the islands and between the Archipelago and the rest of the world.”
For his part, the CEO of Arquimea, Manuel García-Sañudo, thanked the Cabildo for its support, through leading technological institutions such as ITER and Canalink, “allowing us to boost and accelerate the implementation of an exciting project that will offer a connection premium in all the islands and will position the Canary Islands as a reference enclave in telecommunications.”
García-Sañudo explained that the project begins with a first phase, in which the construction of the satellite control center is planned, as well as a teleport, which will operate third-party satellites and provide satellite data upload/download services, hosting of antennas and control and secure data storage.
In the second phase, the construction, launch into orbit and marketing of the capacity of its own network of 66 broadband communications satellites will be carried out. In this way, CanarySat will be able to offer global, safe and quality services by having the necessary infrastructure and capacity of the ground segment and the space segment on the islands.
The planned investment is 300 million euros and it is expected to have investors, both national and international, who seek to participate in this “technological project with high growth potential,” according to the Cabildo, which adds that the project has been certified suitability for RIC investment (Reserve for Investments in the Canary Islands), which is an incentive for Canarian investors.
In this sense, the Minister of Innovation, Research and Development, Juan José Martínez, highlighted the strategic importance of the technology companies present in Tenerife, such as ITER and Canalink, in the construction of a diversified and technologically advanced ecosystem. “The alliance with Arquimea for the development of CanarySat is an opportunity to boost the island economy through job creation and attraction of investments in the technological field,” he concluded.
CanarySat estimates that the project will generate around 100 new direct and indirect high-skilled jobs and will attract high-value-added companies that are looking for premium connectivity in real time and low latency, such as satellite operators, telemedicine, banking or cybersecurity companies.
CanarySat will serve satellite operators and will be compatible with other constellations, such as BeetleSat or IRIS, the multi-orbit satellite telecommunications constellation that the European Commission plans to deploy in 2027.
