Uptime · 5y
▸ Est. 2021· Space Telecommunications· Remote / All-terrain

Down to earth solutions
for up in space problems.

We are a battle-proven team
in the realm of space communications combining
a broad set of engineering skills with modern
software practices.

Make contact → Explore the work
Trusted by
Leafspace Lynk Global Skyloom Epic Aerospace constellr
01 · Mission

[MV]i[s]*ion: judge us by these yards.

We are passionate about learning by doing. The best way we found to live that passion was founding a company of problem solvers around the challenges of Space Telecommunications.

I.

Be in charge / Integral solutions

We go end-to-end. All-terrain team that loves to get its wheels dirty with every aspect of the problem, including the humans at the edges.

II.

Knowledge creation & sharing

We seek not to create dependence. Problems are inevitable but soluble. We reduce the time between iteration and reflection and share lessons transparently.

III.

Meta-iterative problem solving

Before mindlessly executing the first solution that pops up, we understand the context and iterate with the client to correct and simplify. We let the problem be our teacher.

IV.

Sustainable work

We prioritise our team's psychosocial health. Autonomy, honesty, simplicity. No buzzwords. No cargo cult. No staff augmentation.

02 · Skills

We design and deliver solutions across every layer.

We design and deliver solutions across the physical, link, network and operations layers.

Hardware
⎔
  • Antenna design
  • PCB board design
  • HF electromagnetic simulation
  • RF electronic board design
  • RF laboratory equipment
  • Design for prototyping & manufacturing
Comms
))
  • Satellite link budget
  • Physical & link layer design
  • Protocol design & implementation
  • Software-defined radios · USRP/UHD
  • Digital modulations & channel modeling
  • GNU Radio · prototyping to production
Linux
>_
  • Platform development
  • Shell scripting & tooling
  • Embedded development
  • Packaging & distribution
  • Drivers debugging
  • Namespaces · routing · nftables
Software
{}
  • Software architecture
  • Continuous integration · HIL
  • Python · numpy · scipy · pandas
  • C · C++ · OpenCL
  • Bash · make · awk
  • Prototyping → robust production
Satellite
◎
  • Power subsystem
  • AOCS
  • Operations
  • Optical / image payloads
  • Mission analysis
  • On-board computer design
General
Σ
  • Scientific & statistical analysis
  • Robust statistical models of the past
  • Probabilistic simulation of the future
  • Teaching & training (RF, DSP, comms)
  • Link budget software
  • Network impairment simulators
03 · Experience

Real projects. Real metrics. Real radios in orbit.

A partial list of what we've shipped: hardware commissioned, firmware in flight, software in production.

TT&C · Radio

UHF / S / X-band TT&C radio

Full-duplex 10–250 kbps radio. Schematic, PCB, measurements, commissioning. FreeRTOS on CortexR4F. CBOR app layer, CSP net layer, custom link + PHY with Reed-Solomon.

UHFSXCSPFreeRTOS
Ground Station

Ground support for Satlab · Gomspace · Satellogic

Python + C + CFFI + GNU Radio stacks. RF conditioning, USRP, DVB-S2 demod on Linux. Docker orchestration, full PHY/link metrics via InfluxDB + Grafana.

USRPDVB-S2GNURADIOGRAFANA
Payload · Radio

160 Mbps DVB-S2 payload radio

Built on USRP B200. X-band PA PCB design. Modified USRP FPGA and UHD driver to implement DVB-S2. Hacked the AD9361 DAC for a 2× throughput improvement.

DVB-S2X-BANDFPGAAD9361
On-Board Computer

OBC for a satellite constellation

Dual-CPU (application + control) ARM design. Redundant random hot/backup mode. Design, schematics, fabrication, testing and software drivers. Ethernet, CAN, USB, GPS.

ARMREDUNDANTCANGPS
Software · Provisioning

Satellite software provision system

Full CI-reproducible builds of firmwares and Linux packages. Release model with atomic per-component upgrades and install tracking. Designed for daily upgrades across a constellation.

CIRELEASELINUX
Networking

Mesh WiFi & VPN infrastructure

Tailscale, Zerotier, Wireguard, Tinc. TUN/TAP interfaces. Contributed to LibreRouter (open-hardware mesh routers) and OpenWrt. Bug-hunting in Linux WiFi drivers.

OPENWRTMESHWIREGUARD
The Ektocomms team. Dots mark the four co-founders: Gonzalo Figueroa, Santiago Piccinini, Francisco Albani and María Pilar Aires.
01 · Gonzalo FigueroaRF · Antennas · TT&C radios
02 · Santiago PiccininiOBC & full software stacks
03 · Francisco AlbaniGround segment · Mission ops
04 · María Pilar AiresFinance · Structure · Operations
01Gonzalo Figueroa
Co-founder · Electronic Engineer (UBA) RF Antennas TT&C Link Layer 10+ yrs space comms ÑuSat TT&C lead IEEE published
02Santiago Piccinini
Co-founder · Electronic Engineer (UBA) OBC Software Architecture Embedded SDR Systems
03Francisco Albani
Co-founder · Ground Segment Systems Thinking Ground Segment Mission Ops SDR DSP CI/CD Satellogic 2015–2020
04María Pilar Aires
Co-founder · Certified Public Accountant Finance Corporate Structure Operations 5+ yrs Satellogic
04 · Team

Small, autonomous, honest.

Four principles shape how we work and who we work with.

Autonomy
Gr. autónomos, self law. We self-organise.
Transparency
No buzzwords. No cargo cult. We understand before we copy.
Real status, clear trade-offs. You see the risks before they become costs.
Simplicity
As simple as possible. Complexity silently kills businesses.
Psychosocial health
Full expertise in our clients' service, including saying no.
05 · Contact

What problem do you need us to solve?

Make contact

[ info [at] ektocomms [dot] space ]
[Transmit] Link · ready