Coimbra hosts the 4th New Space Atlantic Summit

For the fourth consecutive year, the Portuguese Space Agency is holding the New Space Atlantic Summit, which will take place on 8 June 2021 in Coimbra, Portugal. Focusing on “New Space for People”, this year Summit will be organised in the framework of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Leveraging this opportunity and the key priorities of the Presidency in the space domain, the 4^th New Space Atlantic Summit (check program), which will focus on Earth Observation and downstream applications, will pay particular attention to the development of New Space, including the use of space technologies and applications in non-space sectors and public policies.

“One of the themes that we will give special attention how New Space plays an important role for the industry in Europe to become more competitive and how Earth Observation benefit the populations at the coastal areas, as space data and technologies are of utter importance to tackle the climate change and how we can boost the benefits of space”, says Hugo Costa, director of the Portuguese Space Agency – Portugal Space. The panel New Space for People will also be addressing the first conclusions of the study that SpaceTec Partners is conducting to the European Commission on New Space.

Building on the success of the previous years, the 4^th New Space Atlantic Summit, fast becoming a landmark event for the Atlantic New Space ecosystem, will foster fruitful and meaningful discussions on topical and timely issues pertinent to public and private space actors on both sides of the Atlantic. By addressing the Council of European Union Conclusions, we will also discuss space entrepreneurship (including the launch of the CASSINI initiative), the ongoing and future Atlantic Earth Observation Satellite initiatives, Destination Earth and Digital Planet (as well as their concrete applications), access to space and space traffic management, topics that are all crucial to the countries of the Atlantic rim and to their cooperation in the space domain.

The speakers to the New Space Atlantic Summit include Portuguese Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education Manuel Heitor, Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Application at ESA Elodie Viau, Portuguese Space Agency President Ricardo Conde, and Rodrigo da Costa, Executive-director of EUSPA, national space agency representatives, and industrial and academic representatives from the space and non-space sectors.

The 4^th New Space Atlantic Summit will be held at Convento de S. Francisco, at Coimbra, but also online. Participation in the conference is free of charge, but registration at newspaceatlanticsummit.com is mandatory.

For those who choose to attend the Convento de S. Francisco, in Coimbra, the organization assures that all safety and security measures are taken in accordance with the guidelines of the Directorate General of Health.