Launch of first Catalan nanosatellite postponed 24 hours

Article updated Saturday, March 20 at 2150

The launch of the Catalan government's first nanosatellite has been postponed due to technical reasons, and is now due to take place on Monday.

The nanosatellite was due to be launched into orbit at 7.07am Catalan time on Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan but a delay was announced just over half an hour before lift-off.

Originally, the postponement was to be for 24 hours, but government Twitter accounts on Saturday evening confirmed that it would be extended until March 22.

Ignasi Ribas, director of the Catalan Institute for Space Studies (IEEC) said that the postponement was not an "anomaly": "All the checks were green, something went wrong and as a precaution the launch was canceled and delayed."

"Nothing changes, what was supposed to happen on March 20 will happen on March 21," Ribas added, before the additional extension was announced.

Enxaneta

At a cost of €574,750, the nanosatellite was designed and built by the Catalan company Sateliot. Its main goal is to improve IoT (Internet of Things) connectivity and collect data from about 100 sensors spread across Catalonia, monitoring water level in rivers, pollution and wildlife.

Following a children's competition, the nanosatellite was named Enxaneta, after the small child who climbs to the very top of Catalonia's famous human towers and raises their hand to the sky to signal the 'castell' (castle) has been crowned.

Podcast

For more on the nanosatellite and the Catalan Space Agency listen to this week's episode of Filling the Sink below.