Headquarters of the Portuguese Space Agency inaugurated in the Azores

The Portuguese Space Agency is inaugurating its headquarters this Thursday in Vila do Porto, on the island of Santa Maria. The event will be attended by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the Presidents of the Regional Legislative Assembly and the Regional Government of the Azores, Luís Garcia and José Manuel Bolieiro, respectively, and the Secretary of State for Science, Ana Paiva.

With the inauguration and future operationalisation of the headquarters in Santa Maria, the highlight of the organisation’s 5th-anniversary celebrations, the Portuguese Space Agency reiterates its commitment to the Azores region, boosting the development of various structuring initiatives for the space sector in Portugal. “From the outset, the Agency recognised the geographical potential of the Azores region in terms of developing a space ecosystem. Through this Atlantic centrality, Portugal has an open door to a prosperous future in space,” says Ricardo Conde, President of the Portuguese Space Agency.

“This inauguration marks a new chapter in the history of the Portuguese Space Agency and the Portuguese space sector,” he adds. Considering that “the Azores play a fundamental role in our ecosystem,” Ricardo Conde points out that “the future spaceport on the island of Santa Maria is among the potential landing sites for the Space Rider.” The first launch of the European Space Agency’s future space vehicle is scheduled for 2027, and the Azorean island could host the landing of the inaugural flight.

During the event, Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of EUSPA (European Union Agency for the Space Programme), Stefano Bianchi, Flight Programmes Director at the European Space Agency, and the President of the Portuguese Space Agency will discuss the challenges of the sector and the role of the Azores as a place to return to and access space. The programme also includes a roundtable on space education projects, with the participation of several young students from the Azores archipelago, as well as presentations by Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues, responsible for the first Portuguese satellite to be launched into space, and philosopher Onésimo de Almeida.

Built in the 1950s, the building that will house the headquarters of the Portuguese Space Agency was designed by Francisco Keil do Amaral. The architect was responsible for the housing development and general urbanisation scheme after the inauguration of the Santa Maria airport. The historic building housed the family of the airport’s director during the administration of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics.  In 2019, the building was made available by the Regional Government of the Azores to the Portuguese Space Agency to house its headquarters.