Europe is to ensure its strategic autonomy in the area of space Portuguese Prime Minister noted the contribution by Portugal Espaço, do AIR Center, do Earth and Space Ecosystem[...]

Europe must step up its ambitions in the area of space, jointly with the European Space Agency, the States and the European Commission "in order to ensure, here as well, the strategic autonomy of a Europe that is open to the world", said the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa at the dinner of the European Space Agency Intermediate Ministerial Meeting held in Porto.

The Prime Minister claimed, "it is fundamental that we take the steps to ensure the space sector's development together with the green transition in Europe", harnessing the information that "the satellite images may offer for the challenges we are facing with the green transition and carbon neutrality".

He stated that "today, the major challenge is to use information on space to guarantee better quality of life for human beings", pointing to the importance of satellites capturing images to support the 55% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030" and to "make the land management sustainable, as well as land planning, and prevent catastrophes, whether floods or wildfires".

"Like other Southern European countries, Portugal is one of the countries most affected by climate change and runs "the risk of coastal erosion due to the rise in sea levels, the risk of drought, the risk of wildfires" that affect citizens' lives, he said, noting the need of the benefits of progress reaching everyone.

Portugal in space

The Prime Minister recalled that under the Portugal Space 2030 strategy "we created the Portuguese Space Agency and have processes ongoing to develop new space industries, attract FDI and foster collaboration between the scientific and academic institutions to promote a new decade of strengthening space and Earth observation systems".

António Costa highlighted the relevance of the definition "since 2016 of a research and innovation agenda on Atlantic Interactions, which led to the creation of the Atlantic International Research Center - AIR Center in 2017, which focuses on studying and exploring space for the Atlantic's social and economic development".

This centre includes "an Earth Observation Lab in the Azores ESAlab@Azores -, on Terceira Island, focusing on systems relating to Earth observation and maritime surveillance" and the "Santa Maria Space Ecosystem, which includes promotion to set up and operate an open space port on the island for integrated launching operations, landing at sea and reusing launchers."