Call for Satellite Launches in the Azores received 14 proposals

The first phase of the Atlantic International Satellite Launch Program (ATLANTIC ISLP) received 14 proposals of interest from international consortia, which expressed their interest in collaborating with Portuguese companies and national research and engineering centers to design, install and operate a spaceport on Santa Maria Island, in the Azores. This initiative was launched last September in partnership by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Azores Space Mission Structure (EMA - Espaço), with technical support from the European Space Agency (ESA).

This phase, which ended on October 31, 2018, consisted of expressions of interest from entities that can guarantee the development and operation of a new generation of services for launching satellites into space. The 14 expressions of interest submitted included companies from various countries (11 from the European Union, 2 from the USA and 1 from Russia), which declared an interest in operating throughout the value chain associated with the new generation of services for launching small satellites into space. It should be noted that the proposals include innovative space access solutions with micro-launchers (representing 7 proposals), system and software engineering products and services, as well as innovations relating to terrestrial infrastructures.

The Atlantic International Satellite Launch Program is made up of several distinct phases, aimed at stimulating the creation of qualified jobs and leveraging new high value-added space projects, which could guarantee an increase and new impetus for existing projects on the island of Santa Maria, as well as for national companies and research and technological development centers in this sector, positioning the country and the region in the development of a new generation of space activities based on small satellites. The expectation is that, once all the phases of evaluation and analysis of the feasibility conditions and contractual processes have been completed, the first launch services will begin operating in the Azores in the spring/summer of 2021.

The 14 expressions of interest will now be analyzed by a High-Level International Commission, made up of 9 national and foreign experts of recognized international merit and coordinated by Jean Jacques Dordain, former Director General of ESA. The first meeting of this Committee will be held in early November 2018, and its objectives will be to recommend a list of candidates to be invited to participate in the 2nd phase of this Program and to define the requirements of the call for proposals for the 2nd phase (Competitive Bidding Phase).

The selection process will proceed as follows:

• January-February 2019: Phase 2 - submission of proposals, in response to the "International Call for Tender for Launch Services to Space from the Island of Santa Maria", to be defined under the terms of the analysis of the proposals submitted in Phase 1 (October 2018).

• February-March 2019: Evaluation process, including a public presentation of the proposals.

• March-May 2019: Final Evaluation Phase.

• End of May 2019: Final negotiation with companies / consortia.

• June 2019: Contract for the development and operation of the spaceport.

• May/June 2019 to May/June 2021 (2 years): Analysis and external evaluation of the implementation phase.

• Spring/Summer 2021: first launch services planned to operate in the Azores.

 List of companies that have submitted expressions of interest in the first phase of the International Atlantic Satellite Launch Program: