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The Spanish aeronautical engineer Pedro Duque (Madrid, 60 years old) belongs to that ultra-select club of those who have fulfilled the dream of every child on the planet: taking a walk in space.
In his case there were two, 10 days each.
The astronaut, who was Minister of Science and Innovation (2018-2021), has chaired Hispasat since December, the Spanish joint company that operates 13 satellites, had a turnover of almost 250 million in 2023 and obtains half of its income in South America.
Duque, who accompanied the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to Brazil and Chile in the business delegation, details in this interview held in São Paulo his plans for Hispasat, the challenge of Elon Musk's Starlink for the sector or the potential to give Satellite Internet for schoolchildren in hard-to-reach areas such as the Amazon - a memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Lula Government.
Duque speaks slowly, softly, with an informative and didactic speech.
Ask.
The astronaut club must be tiny, surely everyone knows each other.
Answer.
I think I personally know 100 of the 500 of us.
We even get together.
This year it's in Holland.
We have an association with a geopolitical origin, with astronauts on both sides.
It was decided that, whatever the governments said, we would get together to talk about peace and cooperation.
And there we continue.
Q.
You have survived the war in Ukraine.
A.
Yes, but it is complicated by visas [for Russians].
At times in history it has been the only forum in which Americans and Russians spoke.
The space station is right now almost the last thing left of cooperation between them that is open and known.
Q.
You must be the first technician, or one of the first, to preside over Hispasat.
A.
The truth is, I haven't done the math, but I am a technician.
Q.
A technical-political hybrid?
A.
A technician who has worked as a politician trying to use politics to improve my area, innovation.
Q.
At Hispasat, do you use your experience as an astronaut or politician more?
A.
The roles are adapted to each one's specialty and, of course, then you study.
The role of representative of the company before the authorities is very important.
Explain to them why our technology is going to be very useful for them.
Interact with investors, with potential investors, with the governments that regulate... And, since I ran a satellite operating company for five years, I have some idea of the limitations, international regulations and market problems.
Because people don't know how important space technology is for everyone's life.
Q.
Count.
Tell me everyday things that we can only do thanks to satellites.
A.
A lot!
Without them, we could not have the merchandise delivery system that we have.
I still remember the men in the van who were traveling with a very large book through Madrid.
Q.
The stray, I remember.
A.
All that is in the past.
In America there are about 6,000 geographic areas where people have cell phones just because satellite exists.
The fiber optic cables do not reach there.
People don't know that if I talk to my children it is thanks to them.
Q.
What are your priorities at Hispasat?
A.
The number one thing for every president of a Board of Directors is to try to carry out a strategy that increases the value of the company.
And from there, more concrete things like new shared satellite technology that can serve people with different needs.
Everyone uses it as they want, but it is much cheaper for everyone to have someone manage the whole thing.
Q.
Shared expenses...
A.
The next leap for the Governments of South America is for all children to have access to education.
In Brazil there are 140,000 schools.
We connect about 7,000 schools to the Internet.
Another satellite, from the Brazilian Government, connects another 17,000.
There are many missing.
We want to do it with reasonable investments by governments.
Brazil is committed to public-private cooperation.
We make the investment and they pay it according to the services.
Q.
What would it mean for those millions of schoolchildren?
A.
The important thing is not that all children have an iPad at home.
But all teachers must have access to the best material that attracts the attention of students, that encourages them to study, to know more.
And those things are now videos, interactive materials or computer programs.
All children in America have the right to a basic education that encourages them to seek knowledge.
The child without an Internet connection, even at school, is at a disadvantage.
Governments have understood that these disadvantages are very bad for the economy and, therefore, they must be reduced.
Pedro Duque, Spanish aeronautical engineer.Lela Beltrão
Q.
They weigh down your entire life.
A.
Inequality is perpetuated.
The solution can only come from space technologies, I believe, because perhaps we will never pass fiber optics to the middle of the Amazon.
Q.
It is difficult to take the technician, there are no roads, sometimes it takes 24 hours to navigate... You, who have been in space, surely perceive the magnitude, but most of us find it difficult to understand how gigantic it is.
A.
Telemedicine must also be introduced.
It cannot be that, in an important, rich and technological country like Brazil, they have to spend 24 hours to see the doctor to find out if they have a sprain or fracture.
In Spain, with money from the Ministry of Defense, a very good telemedicine system was developed and we at Hispasat integrated it as well.
In other words, with the satellite they have school, telemedicine, everything together.
The only thing they need is electrical or solar energy.
From there a bubble of much less poverty is generated.
And, therefore, it has to be a public policy.
What we offer is a partner for life, which is not the same as buying someone the product and then having them forget about you.
In 20 years, it will have to remain accessible to governments.
Q.
Speaking of prices, Elon Musk has burst the market.
Starlinks are everywhere in the Amazon, for legal and illicit purposes.
A.
Our commitment is long-term and with agreed prices.
Much more efficient.
You cannot be at the mercy of companies that the next day can say that they will cut off your satellite or that it costs twice as much.
Of course they are very interesting, but public policies have to be based on certainties.
Q.
And the space race to the moon?
A.
It's been happening forever. The Chinese Government has already said that its astronauts will be there before 2030.
The United States thought it would be 2026, but maybe it will be 2027. The empires were empires because they had a technology that beat everyone.
The Spanish was based on naval technology.
Therefore, Ibero-America must cooperate in technology.
May we have more and more engineers, physicists and biologists.
Let's create a technological group, because that is the way to not be left behind in the world.
Whoever has the technology has better margins and better salaries, which pay better pensions.
The line is very clear.
Brazil and Spain are the two most advanced technological powers in Latin America.
If we cooperate on renewable energy, energy storage, hydrogen, on developing our own space communications systems... we will have a very good chance of being near the head, and not at the bottom.
Q.
Elon Musk has multiplied the launch of satellites.
And what remains obsolete?
A.
Recovering space debris or getting rid of it is increasingly complicated because there is more of it.
A situation that basically led us to the Starlink satellite constellation.
I don't know the exact figures but they launch rockets with 50 satellites, now they are preparing a big rocket with one hundred, two hundred, three hundred.
They are going to try to launch the great giant rocket that will win all those ever made by humanity.
The problem is that there is no regulation.
It seems to me that the earth's orbit, like the aquifers, is a public good.
If we let everyone tap into the aquifer, in the end we will all be left with nothing.
Only the orbit of geostationary satellites is regulated, which are always at the same point on Earth.
It seems to me that, since there is no regulation in the rest, it represents the appropriation of a public good.
It should be a concession to be paid to anyone, to the United Nations.
Because this way we would all pay for the technology to remove space debris.
And this is debated too little.
Q.
We are fascinated by the launch, but we do not think about the end of the satellite's life.
A.
We have been debating at the United Nations for 20 years without reaching any regulation.
I hope not, but I'm not sure we'll be able to regulate it until a big accident happens.
Two or three times there have been accidental collisions.
And a mess of bits of space junk is set up.
Each one is dangerous, of course.
This chain reaction has been studied for 40 years.
And every day we are closer to that probability.
Q.
The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have reminded us that, in strategic sectors, it is vital not to depend on others.
A.
Europe is starting the Iris 2 project to create its own system of low orbit satellites because we cannot allow them to be served by a company over which we have no regulatory control.
If the satellite breaks down and there is no service contract.
If you don't even know if they're going to turn it off, as suddenly happened in Ukraine, it's better to have your own.
Q.
Your two space missions were brief compared to the current ones.
Do you envy his successors?
A.
I was there ten days each time, now it's been six months, a year.
On the way back I talk to them.
It has good and bad things.
Q.
The advantages…
A.
Do your profession for a long time, be a total
spaceman
.
The vision of the earth never ends.
And, when you come back, and you know that all the data from the experiments you were commissioned to do has been recovered, you know that science advances here and there thanks to that.
That's good.
But six months without opening the window, without going out to have a beer, eating and sleeping at work... It also has bad things.
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