The University of Seville and Indra have presented the Space Surveillance Chair at the Higher Technical School of Engineering (ETSI) . Its main objective is to promote excellence and talent in a sector that is strategic for national security and technological development. To this end, the Chair will foster scientific research, promote specialized training in new space technologies, and facilitate knowledge transfer between the University and industry.

The inauguration of the Indra Chair of Space Surveillance , the result of this strategic collaboration focused on research, training and technology transfer , represents progress in a fundamental area for security and defense, since the field of space surveillance allows monitoring of satellites and other objects in space, especially space debris, monitoring controlled and uncontrolled re-entries, observing solar radiation phenomena that can affect satellites and terrestrial systems, and analyzing near-Earth asteroids that may present collision risks.

Spain actively participates in the European EUSST (Space Surveillance and Tracking) program, with an involvement exceeding 20%. Furthermore, the Spanish Space Agency (AEE), headquartered in Seville, reinforces the strategic role of this Chair in the space sector .

The event was presided over by the Rector of the University of Seville, Miguel Ángel Castro Arroyo , and was attended by the Director of the ETSI, Andrés Sáez Pérez ; representatives of Indra, led by the Director of the Space Business Unit at Indra, Fernando García Martínez-Peñalver ; military authorities, including the Air Force General, Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Space (JEMA), Francisco Braco Carbó ; representatives of the Spanish Space Agency, including its Director, Juan Carlos Cortés Pulido ; as well as various civil authorities from the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Seville City Council.

During the inauguration of the Chair, the director of Users, Services and Applications of the Spanish Space Agency, Nicolás Martín Martín , and the division general, head of the Space Command of the Air Force and Space, Isaac Crespo Zaragoza , gave separate presentations to the attendees.

The presentation of the Chair was given by Rafael Vázquez Valenzuela , Professor of Aerospace Engineering and its director, who explained its objectives, activities and future projects.

Planned activities

Among the planned activities are the organization of events, seminars and specialized workshops, the call for scholarships and awards for students and researchers, the dissemination and communication of scientific results, and the training of teachers in new space technologies. 

two scholarships are being jointly supervised with Indra, focusing on 'Machine Learning Techniques for CAM (Collision Avoidance Maneuver) Generation' and 'Improving Covariance Realism in Orbital Determination'. This year, among other activities, prizes will be awarded for the best undergraduate thesis, master's thesis, and doctoral dissertation on topics related to space surveillance.

The training of engineering professionals specializing in space surveillance gives graduates of the University of Seville an added advantage in their skills, which are highly valued and in demand by a labor market that needs people to work in this important sector.

Master's Degree in Space Systems Operations

The training is specifically linked to the Aerospace Engineering offered by the University of Seville's School of Engineering (ETSI), although it aims to accommodate all of the University's degree programs. Of particular note is its connection to the upcoming Master's Degree in Space Systems Operation (MOSE), a specialized program proposed for the coming academic year and taught in English, which will train professionals in space technology by combining aerospace engineering and telecommunications skills.

The Chair maintains research projects focused on space surveillance and the future of Space Traffic Management (STM) , and collaborates closely with key entities in the sector such as the Spanish Space Agency , the European Space Agency , the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) , the Space Surveillance Operations Center (COVE) and the Royal Observatory of the Navy (ROA) .

Since 2019, the University of Seville, together with Indra Soluciones Tecnologías de la Información, SLU, has also been running the Indra Digital Society Chair , which promotes interdisciplinary teaching and research activities related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that study the reality, problems and perspectives of the development of new strategies and technologies in this field.