Atlantic International Satellite Launch Program

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Azores Space Mission Structure (EMA-Space) have launched an international call for qualified entities worldwide to express their interest in collaborating with Portuguese companies and research and engineering centers to design, install, and operate a spaceport on the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores, in association with the development and operation of a new generation of satellite launch services into space. This initiative is being launched with the technical support of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The initiative will be presented at a Breaking News Event on October 2, at 11 a.m., during the International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2018, in Bremen, www.iac2018.org. The Call receiveexpressions of interest until the end of October 2018.

The potential development of a spaceport in the Atlantic aims to stimulate a new generation of space activities based on small satellites. It aims to expand the existing satellite monitoring and tracking facilities on the island of Santa Maria and open up a new generation of launcher services and space activities based on small satellites for the benefit of society as a whole. It takes into account the unique location of the Azores in the Atlantic and its centrality in relation to Europe, the Americas, and Africa, with the goal of initiating new launches starting in 2021. 

This initiative also aims to stimulate a new response to the growing demand for the use of small satellites for a variety of purposes, including telecommunications and space-based internet, but also Earth observation applications, including agriculture and fisheries, infrastructure monitoring, urban development, and security, among others—a market that has been estimated by various international sources to be worth several billion euros over the next decade. This initiative also aims to stimulate the creation of skilled jobs and new business projects with greater added value in association with the "New Space Industries," along with the need to accelerate security and protection initiatives involving the use of micro, mini, and small satellites.

The International Atlantic Satellite Launch Program is being launched based on a three-phase process, which now begins with consulting the international market in order to attract foreign direct investment to support the revitalization of the space sector in Portugal. This process will be implemented by a High-Level International Commission, with national and foreign experts, coordinated by Jean Jacques Dordain, former Director General of ESA, and including, among others, Dava Newman (Co-Director of the MIT-Portugal Program and former Deputy Administrator of NASA) and Brian Tapley (Founder of the Space Studies Center at the University of Texas at Austin).