Between Earth and Orbit: Spain’s Sateliot Expands Its Satellite Network With Five New Spacecraft

There are places where a mobile signal ends quietly. A road leaves the city, a ship moves beyond the coast, or an industrial sensor sits far from a terrestrial network. For Sateliot, those gaps represent a different kind of map—one that can be extended from above.

The Barcelona-based satellite telecommunications company is preparing to launch five new satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-18 mission. The launch is scheduled for October 1 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, subject to possible last-minute changes.

The mission, named Draconis, will bring Sateliot’s total number of launched satellites to 11. The company says the additional spacecraft will increase the frequency of satellite passes and expand the capacity of its 5G non-terrestrial network for Internet of Things applications.

According to Sateliot, the new constellation configuration is expected to roughly double the average number of daily passes over a given area and reduce the time between opportunities for devices to connect. That matters for applications that need communication beyond the reach of terrestrial mobile networks.

The five spacecraft are relatively small. Each measures about 20 by 10 by 35 centimeters and weighs approximately 10 kilograms. They are designed to operate in low Earth orbit at around 510 kilometers above the planet.

The satellites also contain several improvements over the four spacecraft launched by Sateliot in 2024. These include an optimized payload, improved onboard computing and attitude-control systems, more capable data storage and memory designed to withstand the radiation environment of space.

Sateliot describes its technology as a way to extend terrestrial mobile networks into areas where conventional infrastructure does not reach. Mobile operators can use the satellite network through wholesale agreements, potentially allowing connected devices to communicate across remote locations.

The applications for such connectivity can extend across the Internet of Things. Sensors used in agriculture, logistics, environmental monitoring and infrastructure can operate in locations where building a conventional cellular network may be difficult or costly.

The company is looking beyond the current launch as well. Sateliot says the five satellites form part of a planned constellation of more than 500 spacecraft, with future generations intended to support higher-capacity and more demanding services, including direct-to-device connectivity.

The company’s next major technological step is expected in 2027 through the planned Tritó generation. Sateliot says those satellites will introduce additional 5G non-terrestrial-network capabilities and technologies designed to increase capacity and flexibility.

For now, however, the immediate milestone is closer to Earth and easier to measure: five satellites preparing for launch and a constellation growing from four spacecraft launched in 2024 to 11 after the Draconis mission. The objective is straightforward in technical terms but broad in its possible reach—making mobile connectivity available in more places by moving part of the network into orbit.