Lisbon, Nov. 7, 2024 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Space Agency has a new headquarters on the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores, as of Thursday, in an investment of around €1.3 million, which will be inaugurated by the country's president.
Portugal Space's new headquarters is an investment supported by the regional government of the Azores, one of the founding members of the agency created in 2019, which made it possible to restore the so-called ‘Airport Director's House’, a property located in a classified area of Vila do Porto.
Built in the 1950s, the building was designed by Francisco Keil do Amaral and housed the airport director's family during the management of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics. In 2019, the building was given by the regional government of the Azores to the Portuguese Space Agency to house its headquarters.
The inauguration, scheduled for 3.30pm (4.30pm in Lisbon), will be attended by the country's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the president of the regional government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, and the secretary of state for science, Ana Paiva.
Portugal Space has highlighted the geographical potential of the Azores for the development of a space ecosystem, which includes the future spaceport on the island of Santa Maria, a project that has experienced several delays, but which is among the potential landing sites for the `space rider'.
This reusable unmanned orbital vehicle from the European Space Agency (ESA) is scheduled to launch for the first time in 2027, and the Azorean island is a strong candidate to host the landing of the inaugural flight.
During some decades of the 20th century, Santa Maria experienced a strong economic and social boost due to the role that its airport, built during World War II by the US military, played in the connections between the two sides of the Atlantic, which allowed the island to double its population.
The emergence of jet aviation and the oil crises of the 1970s significantly reduced the airport's importance for transatlantic flights, but the island of around 5,500 inhabitants has been trying to regain its geostrategic importance in recent years with various projects and investments in the aerospace sector.
It is this location that also means that NAV Portugal has an Oceanic Control Centre on the island, responsible for controlling flights en route over an area of more than five million km2 of sky from Santa Maria.
The island is also home to various other infrastructures linked to this area, such as the ESA Satellite Launcher Tracking Station, the ESA Galileo Sensor Station and the EUMETSAT meteorological station, among others.
The Portuguese Space Agency was created by the government to implement the Portugal Space 2030 national strategy with the aim of the country being recognised as a world authority in Space-Earth-Climate-Ocean interactions, with benefits for society and the economy.
PC/AYLS // AYLS
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