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 the 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 took part at the end of the meeting and discussed with the agency's founders the terms of the agreements made with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Portuguese space agency to perform "ESA hub" functions in terms of "dual tutelage" between Portugal and the ESA.

Chiara Manfletti has dual Italian and German nationality, a degree in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College London (2001), a master's degree in "space studies" from the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg (2002), and a PhD from the German University of Aachen (2009). She also has a degree in History from the Open University in the UK (2003). She worked for the French company SNECMA, the German space agency DLR, and then 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 for the last few years.

Chiara Manfletti is the 3rd woman to chair 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 president of the Australian space agency in 2018, when it was created last year.

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

The 1st General Assembly of the Portuguese Space Agency (Portugal Space) took place this Friday, March 22, following 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 the respective founding members of Portugal Space. The creation of the Portuguese Space Agency was approved on March 7th by the Council of Ministers, and is the result of a partnership between the Government of Portugal and the Regional Government of the Azores, with the collaboration of the 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, fostering 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 scene through international cooperation, particularly with the ESA and other European space agencies. It is also responsible for implementing and promoting the AZORES International Satellite launch Program (AZORES ISLP), in partnership with ESA.

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