Swissto12 opens new facility in Madrid. Photo: Swissto12

Swissto12 has opened a new engineering and R&D facility in Madrid, Spain to accelerate development of satellite systems and user terminals. The company has a growing Spanish team of engineers and architects of satellite payloads, antenna technologies, and satellite systems. 

The new facility will continue its work with phased array antennas for satellite payloads and user terminals. It will support the company’s HummingSat small Geostationary (GEO) satellite program, which has satellites in the works for SES and Viasat. 

Swissto12 said it also supports its EU presence, and proximity to industrial partners, suppliers and customers in Spain.  

“Thanks to its world-leading technical universities and space industry ecosystem, Spain is recognised as a global hub for talent that is extremely relevant to SWISSto12. This new team is helping us accelerate our development and production of phased array antennas to meet strong customer demand for our satellite payloads and ground terminal systems,” CEO Emile de Rijk commented in a release. 

As European nations are ramping up investment in space capabilities, de Rijk said last week at World Space Business Week that GEO has an “intrinsic advantage” over Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites for sovereign, secure connectivity. 

“Giving operators and nations the tools to invest in a more alternative way … where it makes sense and not over-invest in big markets [that are] challenged by constellations is a good way to address the evolution,” he said.