Last December, the Algeciras Port Authority (APBA) and the Vigo-based company Alén Space completed the first campaign of demonstration pilots of VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) technology aboard the SATMAR satellite. This initiative, developed in collaboration with Egatel and other partners, places Algeciras and Spain in a leading position in the development of new maritime satellite communications solutions.
The project seeks to demonstrate the viability of the VDES standard as an evolution of the AIS system and to explore new possibilities for digital services in the logistics-port sector aimed at improving efficiency, safety and sustainability. To this end, during the campaign, different use cases in the port and maritime environment were tested with the aim of validating the operation and potential of this new technology.
In the first pilot, messages were successfully exchanged between a ship and the port control centre, demonstrating the ability of VDES to enable secure and efficient two-way communications. The second pilot consisted of sending environmental and oceanographic data from a drifting vessel, simulating applications that could be implemented in the future with low-cost equipment and communication channels adapted to the maritime environment. A demonstration was also carried out of the reception of long-range AIS (Automatic Identification System) messages from the SATMAR satellite, demonstrating the possibility of extending ship tracking coverage beyond traditional coastal stations.
In the last pilot of this campaign, developed in collaboration with the company Oritia & Boreas, the secure transmission of environmental data from remote areas was tested, using a VDES terminal installed at a weather station located in the Bay of Algeciras.
SATMAR, which was launched into orbit on 23 June 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and successfully passed the validation phase of its subsystems and payloads, also incorporates a secondary payload that turns it into an orbiting laboratory for software-defined radio (SDR) technology. Its functions include monitoring the radio spectrum in the VHF, L and S bands, as well as testing new high-speed communications technologies in the S band.
The SATMAR project, developed entirely by Alén Space with the participation of Egatel and the Gradiant technology centre, and in which the APBA participates as a Facilitating Agent, is financed by the Ports 4.0 Fund managed by Puertos del Estado, reinforcing its strategic nature and its alignment with the innovation objectives of the Spanish port system.
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