In the beginning.
MakaluMedia GmbH was founded in 1997, when Matt Henderson and his wife Pino de la Fuente decided to leverage their experience as engineers at the European Space Agency, to form a small company providing systems engineering, development and consultancy within the space sector.
The company’s first major project was the development of the embedded software running within ESA’s next-generation satellite tracking system, the IFMS. In parallel, the company began to expand in the area of spacecraft operations engineering consultancy within both ESA, and another European satellite operator, EUMETSAT.
Growth.
The success of the IFMS system at ESA, and the reputation of the company’s growing team of consultants established MakaluMedia as a serious and reliable provider in the European space industry, allowing the company to grow, and to win further contracts at ESA, EUMETSAT and, later, EUTELSAT.
The company also began to diversify into the area of web- and internet-based system design, development and operation, leveraging its technical and management experience gained in the space sector, to win contracts with important industry customers such as Germany’s leading entertainment agency, and the city government of Darmstadt, Germany.
In 2004, the company diversified again, into the area of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product development and sale. Its first product, ARTS, is an advanced issue and action management system in use by more than 700 users at ESA to manage problem reporting and resolution across more than 50 missions and projects. Its second product, CRS, is a powerful system configuration reporting tool in use by several manufactures of space ground segment systems.
Today.
Today, MakaluMedia GmbH is a successful SME (Small- to Medium-sized Enterprise) within the European space industry, developing and maintaining advanced software systems, and providing a broad range of engineering consultancy. Most recently, the European Space Agency confirmed its confidence in the company through the award of two five-year consultancy frame contracts — representing the largest success of the company to date, and ensuring its steady growth over the next five years.
In 2005, MakaluMedia formed a sister company in Spain, and opened an office on the southern mediterranean coast, in the city of Marbella. While the group in Germany focuses on activities in the space sector, the group in Spain focuses on the areas of web-application development, interface- and interactivity design.