The association representing the digital industry sector in Spain (AMETIC), in collaboration with Hisdesat Servicios Estratégicos and other leading institutions (Indra, Airbus, Telefónica), organized the XVI Space Seminar at the European University of the Atlantic (UNEATLANTICO). This event, held from September 4 to 6, 2024, brought together military, governmental and business authorities, consolidating itself as a benchmark in the analysis of the role of space in national security and defense.
During the opening ceremony, led by Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón, Chief of the Defense Staff, the participants discussed how space has become a “new scenario of conflict” and how it affects the evolution of operational capabilities in security and defense. In the following days, government and industry representatives presented the technological advances applied to current space programs, highlighting the impact of the use of satellites in secure communications, command and control, intelligence gathering and navigation.
The seminar program included high-level conferences and round tables with the participation of space industry leaders, who addressed key topics such as R&D programs, the challenges of the EU’s common security policy, and the collaboration between the public and private sectors for the development of space capabilities.
Aparicio, UNEATLANTICO’s Vice Rector for Academic Planning and Faculty, participated in the closing ceremony of the seminar, welcoming the Secretary of State for Defense, Ms. Amparo Valcarce García, who highlighted the relevance of the space sector in national security and its future projection.
This event reaffirmed the strategic importance of space in defense, highlighting the fundamental role of space technologies and their impact on security and economic development at national and European level.