Catalan satellites

Separatist leaders in Spain’s Catalonia region have been accused of squandering taxpayers’ money after embarking on their own independent space programme. The €18 million ($30m) programme launched the first of a planned constellation of satellites last week, with the aim of developing a space tech industry in Catalonia. The satellites will deploy internet connectivity for the Catalan regional government, which has made numerous complaints of spying by Spain’s Government. Opposition parties in Catalonia described it as a vanity project and pointed out that Spain is already part of European Space Agency.