Space sector generated €1.2 billion for the Portuguese economy in six years

Start with a single euro: it enters a space company in Coimbra, a research centre in Porto, or a university in Lisbon. Then half of it pays wages and profit, and the other half goes to a supplier, who pays wages that are then spent on rent, a dinner out, or tuition fees. In the end, every euro spent by the space sector generates another €1.17 of economic value for society.

According to the figures presented in the Socio-economic Study of the Space Sector in Portugal, produced by the French company Novaspace, the space sector multiplies the value it injects into the economy by 2.17. That is close to agriculture, at 2.01, or construction, at 2.80, two sectors that keep almost everything they spend inside the country. “For a cutting-edge industry, one you would expect to import its components and export everything it makes, this is a clear sign of how dynamic the country’s supply chains are,” says Joan Alabart, programme manager for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Space Exploration at the Portuguese Space Agency.

Between 2019 and 2024, the space sector generated €2.4 billion in output for the national economy. Of that total, €1.2 billion contributed to GDP, supporting an average of around 4,500 jobs a year across all sectors and an estimated €290 million in tax revenue for the State. Over the period, the sector accounted for about 0.1% of national GDP.

Any of these figures falls short of the space sector’s total socio-economic impact. “By counting only the economic activity of producing and operating space assets, this figure ends up leaving out the impact that the use of space data has on society,” explains Joan Alabart. These include “the efficiency gains that satellite navigation or Earth observation systems bring to logistics, land management and agriculture, and the technology that, over the years, has been transferred from space to sectors such as the automotive industry.” The study also qualitatively assesses the scientific and reputational value of a sector that strengthens national sovereignty, elevates the country’s international standing, inspires future generations, and attracts global talent.

The sector, whose first companies emerged back in the 1990s, gained fresh momentum in 2000, when Portugal joined ESA. But it was above all the past six years that gave it pace. A national space strategy, Portugal Space 2030, in 2018, and the creation of the Portuguese Space Agency in 2019 marked the turning point: the rate at which new companies were founded more than doubled, from an average of 1.9 a year between 2000 and 2018 to 4.8 since then.

By 2024, the sector brought together more than 150 organisations, of which more than 80 were active companies, with Lisbon, Coimbra and the Porto region as its main hubs of activity. The Portuguese space industry is made up mostly of SMEs, and none has more than 200 employees dedicated to the space sector. On top of that, 76% of revenue comes from just 14 companies.

The study, carried out by Novaspace for the Portuguese Space Agency, looks ahead. Building on the vision already set out in the Portugal Space 2030 strategy, which seeks to make Portugal a world reference in space science and the space economy, it outlines directions for taking the national sector to 2040.

That horizon rests on five priorities, drawn from an analysis of emerging fields and shaped to reflect how both the space sector and the international geopolitical context changed between 2019 and 2024. These are the in-orbit servicing of satellites, debris removal, zero-gravity manufacturing (including medicines), and the growing weight of defence and security, which the new geopolitical order has brought to the heart of the sector.

“The starting point is in place. The work begins now, and it means making the most of the Atlantic, securing access to and return from space, developing satellites and operations, ensuring secure communications and strengthening Portugal’s role on the path towards space science and exploration,” concludes Ricardo Conde, president of the Portuguese Space Agency