The aerospace sector is making a comeback in Barcelona

“We used to be a small, inbred sector, but we're expanding, and there are more and more companies in the Catalan aerospace sector,” says Alejandro Guerra, business developer at GTD, one of the pioneering groups in the industry, which employs 400 people and has a turnover of 45 million euros.

Today, like yesterday, professionals like Alejandro are gathering in the iconic Llotja de Mar building for the New Space Economy Congress. A total of 900 people are registered for the event, which is celebrating its fifth edition with more than 50 local and international speakers from relevant institutions such as the European Space Agency.

The emergence of new, low-cost technologies is driving services beyond traditional industry.

The event is sponsored by i2Cat, the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia, the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia, and KimBcn, and receives support from companies such as Airbus, Sener, Indra, Pangea, Open Cosmos, and Acció (Generalitat). "It's one of the best business-related events, where we strengthen our network of contacts and make initial inroads toward closing commercial deals," says Carles Franquesa of the startup Aistech.

Among the company stands, there are not only technology firms, but also the law firm Augusta, which specializes in the field. “The sector has changed a lot in recent years due to lower infrastructure costs. The European Union also wants to strengthen the industry and is already preparing a bill to harmonize activity across all countries,” says partner Sergi Giménez.

The most visible face of the transformation that the sector is experiencing is, without a doubt, Elon Musk with his companies Space X and Starlink, but beyond that, there is an entire army of startups that provide innovative services, ranging from the launch of nanosatellites and telecommunications, to observation services and data analysis.

For Catalonia, everyone agrees that the greatest opportunity lies precisely in these technologies, which are distinct from the traditional aerospace industry. "Catalonia can be strong in entrepreneurship, also considering that the Spanish Space Agency is located in Seville," says Giménez.

There is no updated data on the sector's size. Acció plans to release a report at the end of the year, which will update the 2019 report, which indicated that there were just 26 companies. "The sector has grown significantly in recent years, but we need more public and private funding and a large-scale driving force to help us be competitive," commented Carles Fernández of Telespazio Ibérica.