Chiara Manfletti is the new President of the Portuguese Space Agency

Chiara Manfletti was today appointed the first President of the Portuguese Space Agency (Portugal Space), with Luís Santos as her vice president. The appointments were made during the agency's 1st General Assembly, which met today (Friday, March 22) at the agency's premises at Palácio das Laranjeiras in Lisbon with the presence of the four founding members, namely the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the National Innovation Agency (ANI), the Directorate-General for National Defense Resources (DGRDN) and the Autonomous Region of the Azores through the RAEGE Açores Association – Atlantic Network of Geodynamic and Space Stations. Minister Manuel Heitor participated at the end of the meeting, having discussed with the agency's founders the terms of the agreements made with the European Space Agency (ESA) so that the Portuguese space agency will perform the functions of “ESA hub” in terms of a “dual guardianship” between Portugal and the ESA.

Chiara Manfletti has dual Italian and German nationality, graduated in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College London (2001), has a master's degree in “space studies” from the “International Space University” (ISU) in Strasbourg (2002), and holds a PhD from the German University of Aachen (2009). He also has a degree in History from the Open University in the United Kingdom (2003). She worked at the French company SNECMA, at the German space agency, DLR, and later joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2016, where she has been an advisor to the Director General at the agency's headquarters in Paris in recent years.

Chiara Manfletti is the third woman to preside over a space agency worldwide, after Pascale Ehrenfreund, who was president of the German space agency (DLR) between 2015 and 2017, and Megan Clark, who was recently appointed, in 2018, president of the Australian space agency, when it was created last year.

Luís Santos has a degree in Electrical Engineering from IST, and until now was the Coordinator of the Azores Mission Structure for Space, now integrated into the Portuguese space agency.

The 1st General Assembly of the Portuguese Space Agency (Portugal Space) this Friday, March 22, took place after the Deed of Incorporation of the Portuguese Space Agency last Monday, March 17, in Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, in the presence of Minister Manuel Heitor and the President of the Regional Government of the Azores, Vasco Cordeiro, and respective founding associates of Portugal Space. The creation of the Portuguese Space Agency was approved on March 7th in the Council of Ministers, and is the result of the partnership between the Government of Portugal and the Regional Government of the Azores, with the collaboration of ESA.

The national agency “Portugal Space” is responsible for promoting and implementing the “Portugal Space 2030” Strategy and coordinating the management of the various national programs linked to Space, encouraging investment, the creation of qualified jobs and the provision of services linked to Space sciences and technologies in close coordination with the European Space Agency and the development process of the International Atlantic Research Centre (AIR Centre). It also aims to boost the European space landscape through international cooperation, notably in terms of ESA and other European space agencies. It is also responsible for implementing and promoting the “AZORES International Satellite launch Programme” (AZORES ISLP), in partnership with ESA.

Portugal Space is headquartered on the island of Santa Maria in the Azores and has facilities in Lisbon, at the Palácio das Laranjeiras. Its objective is to stimulate the space sector in Portugal, creating conditions for the development of national capacity and skills in the field of the space industry, namely the new space industries (“New Space Industries”), but also scientific research, innovation, education and scientific culture, as far as space is concerned.