Sant Esteve Teleport
In recent years, efforts to equip the Montsec Observatory with satellite communication capabilities have taken a further step with the formalisation of the Sant Esteve Teleport.
Over the past few years, significant efforts have been made to equip the Montsec Observatory (OdM) with the capability to host satellite communications stations. This project has been consolidated with the formal establishment of the Sant Esteve Teleport at the OdM, promoted within the framework of the NewSpace Strategy of the Government of Catalonia, in collaboration with the IEEC.
The Sant Esteve Teleport is the area that provides services to ground communication stations. The Sant Esteve Teleport is a facility committed to serving the region and promoting the space sector. Additionally, it is registered as a collaborating infrastructure of the ESA Phi-labNET Spain in Barcelona, a programme coordinated by the IEEC and driven by a consortium of 12 universities and research and innovation centres.
The privileged location of the OdM, free from obstacles on the horizon and with low radio-frequency interference, makes it an ideal site for the ground communications station.
Currently, the Sant Esteve Teleport features a new tri-band station from the company Leaf Space, with plans to progressively incorporate new infrastructure throughout 2027.
Leaf Space’s Tri-band station
This telecommunications station, with a dish approximately 4 metres in diameter, is a triple-band system and provides uplink and downlink capabilities in the S band, as well as downlink in the X and Ka bands of the radio spectrum.
Leaf Space, an expert in satellite connectivity services on a global scale, has installed and operates this antenna in collaboration with the IEEC.
The station provides uninterrupted horizon-to-horizon coverage, with no blind spots, and high precision in satellite tracking. Its multi-band operation capability enables a single platform to track any standard Earth Observation satellite. The antenna is also equipped with a protective radome to ensure operations under any weather conditions.
Satellite missions promoted under the NewSpace Strategy—such as the Menut mission and GENEO-2, which is set to launch soon—will use this station for mission control and data downlink. The station will also support the PhotSat mission, the first satellite developed by the IEEC together with its academic and industrial ecosystem.
