Space infrastructure is a new economic driver, and Ecuador has the opportunity to participate, develop its own capabilities, and compete globally.
By Lorena Naranjo Godoy — Columnist, EL COMERCIO
Original article in spanish: Read it here
When we think about the space industry, we imagine distant spacecraft, astronauts, and multimillion-dollar missions. However, this industry is much more closely connected to our daily lives than we may realize.
The space economy is no longer science fiction or a field reserved for major powers. Today, it is a technological and economic ecosystem made up of infrastructure in orbit and an extensive network of services operating from Earth.
To understand the opportunities this represents for our country, we spoke with Juan Jaramillo, a systems engineer with a master’s degree in National Security and Defense and Chief Operating Officer of the Ecuadorian company ASTRALINTU.
“Space is not the exclusive domain of distant geniuses or powers such as China and the United States. It is an enormous logistical and technological value chain in which any emerging country can compete if it focuses its capabilities effectively.”
What Is the Space Economy, and Why Does It Affect Us Today?
In simple terms, the space economy encompasses activities connected to space, as well as the products and services that generate value on Earth.
Although rockets and satellites are its most visible components, an enormous technological and industrial value chain exists behind them.
For a satellite to be useful, it requires communications, software, ground stations, control centers, data processing, and specialized personnel working from the ground.
This creates opportunities in software, telecommunications, electronics, engineering, data analysis, and applied research.
The results reach practical areas such as precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, maritime surveillance, and disaster prevention.
How Does the Infrastructure Connecting Space and Earth Work?
A fundamental part of this system is ground stations—facilities equipped with antennas, radio-frequency systems, networks, and specialized software that enable communication with satellites in orbit.
When a satellite captures an image or collects information, it transmits that data to Earth. The ground station receives it and sends it to the systems where it will be processed. Communication also works in the opposite direction: instructions are transmitted from Earth telling the satellite which tasks it must perform.
As Jaramillo explains: “Rather than providing traditional telecommunications services, we perform what is known as space operations sustainment.”
We may have sophisticated technology orbiting the planet, but without ground infrastructure that enables communication with it, much of that technology would have little practical use.
Why Is Space Development an Indirect Economic Driver?
There is still a widespread belief that investing in the space sector is a luxury reserved for major global powers.
However, a significant part of its impact lies not only in reaching space, but also in everything a country must develop in the process of trying to do so.
Jaramillo summarizes it this way: “Countries do not develop because they go to space; they develop by trying to go to space.”
Along the way, professionals are trained, companies are created, technologies are developed, and opportunities emerge to attract investment.
Space development can therefore become a positive catalyst for bringing together science, technology, industry, education, the private sector, and the government.
Tell Us About ASTRALINTU: The First Step on Solid Ground
ASTRALINTU was founded in 2020 by professionals from different generations and fields who came together around a shared project. Their goal was to bring the space industry to Ecuador in a profitable and sustainable way. Experience showed that this diversity could become a strength for innovation.
As part of this process, Ecuador hosted the IAF Global Conference on Space for Emerging Countries (GLEC 2022) in Quito. The event brought representatives of the international space community to our country and helped demonstrate that Ecuador could participate seriously in a global industry.
What began in 2020 almost as a “garage startup,” with a small research and testing station, evolved—thanks to a partnership with Grupo Futuro—into dedicated space infrastructure in Urcuquí, Imbabura.
A high-capacity, privately operated commercial ground station is currently being built there to provide services to satellite operators and is expected to begin operations by the end of this year. This infrastructure will enable Ecuador to become part of the international service chain that supports satellites in orbit.
“Space development is a catalyst that provides a national rationale for technological advancement.”
Ecuador does not need to begin by building rockets or replicating the programs of major powers. It can enter this industry through the areas of the value chain where it already has genuine capabilities and advantages.
Why Does Ecuador Have a Privileged Geographic Location for Innovation?
Our equatorial location is more than a geographic curiosity. For certain space-related activities, it can become a strategic advantage.
One scenario the technology industry is beginning to explore is the possibility of developing orbital data centers in the future.
Although this remains an emerging technology, it responds to the search for alternatives to the enormous energy and water consumption associated with the expansion of artificial intelligence and terrestrial data centers.
If this infrastructure is eventually developed on a large scale, Ecuador should begin asking now how it can leverage its location and become one of the connection points for these future networks.
Our geography also creates other possibilities. Agricultural areas located more than 3,000 meters above sea level and exposed to unique radiation and temperature conditions could be used to study plants and foods capable of adapting to extreme environments, with potential applications in biotechnology and future space missions.
Give Us Some Examples of Practical Solutions for Ecuador’s Economy
Space technology becomes truly meaningful when it helps solve real-world problems.
Satellite data can have direct applications in sectors that are important to Ecuador. In agriculture, it can be used to monitor crops, optimize resources, and detect problems quickly. It can also be applied to aquaculture, risk management, the monitoring of volcanoes, floods and wildfires, maritime surveillance, and ecosystem protection.
Discussing the space economy does not mean talking only about “going to space.” It means identifying which parts of that economy can generate knowledge, employment, investment, and solutions to problems we already face here on Earth.
What Are the Main Institutional and Legal Challenges?
Developing this industry requires more than technology and antennas. Ecuador needs to build a national vision encompassing education, research, industry, space law, telecommunications, cybersecurity, public policy, and business development.
This also raises discussions about regulation, liability, security, and sovereignty. Institutions such as Ecuador’s Agency for the Regulation and Control of Telecommunications (ARCOTEL) have an important role to play in finding the right balance: regulating what is necessary, providing legal certainty, and preventing excessive bureaucracy from hindering innovation. An initial step has already been taken through the creation of a national registry of space infrastructure.
“I believe the key is to think efficiently and examine the experiences of other countries. Sweden, for example, has a relatively small and specialized space institutional framework. Ecuador does not necessarily need to create enormous structures. It needs agile, specialized institutions that deliver concrete results.”
What Competitive Advantage Does Ecuador Have in This Global Ecosystem?
Juan concludes: “Our greatest advantage comes from everything—both good and bad—that we have experienced throughout more than 200 years of history.”
Ecuadorians are accustomed—often out of necessity—to solving complex problems with limited resources while navigating budget constraints, infrastructure challenges, institutional changes, and power outages.
What we normally perceive as a weakness can also become a strength. Our ability to adapt and continue moving forward can be valuable in an industry that is changing rapidly and in which many of the rules are still being defined.
Ecuador’s opportunity does not lie in becoming a smaller copy of the United States, China, or Europe. It lies in understanding what we do well, where our advantages are, and how we can connect with the global value chains of an industry that is only beginning to take shape.
Juan leaves our society—and especially its decision-makers—with an open question: Are we ready to look upward, overcome our own preconceptions, and build our own technological sovereignty?
Originally published by EL COMERCIO. Read the original article here:
