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SGAC Portugal Since 2000 when Portugal joined ESA (European Space Agency) as its 15th member state, and later as an ESO (European Southern Observatory) member state, space industry and awareness within Portugal has grown. In December last year, celebrating ten years of Portugal’s participation in the European Space Agency (ESA), an impact study was presented, revealing a new image of the country’s space sector. According to this report, Portugal had a geographical return (roughly the ratio between the income of projects and the country’s contribution) from ESA of around 99% in 2009. This means that, for the first time, the Portuguese space community is absorbing the investment that the government is making on ESA. However, most enthusiasts still leave the country at some point of their studies or career to search for better opportunities. SGAC Portugal aims to keep the Portuguese students and young professionals connected regardless of how they develop in their space careers.
Young Space Activities Overview in Portugal The space industry in Portugal has grown considerably. Though their size is still not comparable to the big European space players, the number of companies has increased 7 times over the past ten years and the number of contracts with ESA has grown from 4, in 2000, to 58, in 2009, representing a value of more than 17 Million Euro. There are now more people employed in the space sector and the area of intervention is also wider: software, consulting, services and hardware. This trend reflects itself in academia as well. The Research and Development (R&D) institutes are responsible for 10% of all space related projects in Portugal, many of them developed in cooperation with the industry sector. Apart from technology, research in astronomy and in related areas is also of major relevance in the Portuguese space picture. Several research centres and groups are dedicated to studying the skies, cooperating internationally for observation and producing science. As these institutes are also associated to universities, they bridge academia and industry, playing therefore a key role in education. Although in Portugal there is only one degree in aerospace engineering, universities are opening more vacancies for space related subjects not just in engineering but also in astronomy and astrophysics. Regarding student groups, there are a few student space associations in Portugal like Euroavia and SSETI. The first one has two local groups, one in Lisboa and another in Covilhã. SSETI has only one team in Lisboa, currently participating in designing and building a student micro-satellite, under the supervision of both academia and industry. Governmental Policies
It is the Government’s responsibility to define the national strategy plan, including the areas of the European space programmes to invest in. Space opportunities and activities are monitored by a governmental Space Office, whose main role is to assist in the communication between Portuguese companies/institutes and the main European space players, like ESA and the European Commission. The Space Office published a Portuguese Space Catalogue in 2009 with detailed information on space-related companies and research centres.
Country-Specific Events in 2011
Interesting Web Links for the Young Generation in Portugal Groups & Entities APAE, Portuguese Association of Aeronautics and Space: www.apae.org.pt
CAAUL, Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Lisbon: www.oal.ul.pt/caaul
CAUP, Center of Astrophysics of the University of Porto: www.astro.up.pt/caup
CENTRA, The Multidisciplinar Centre for Astrophysics: centra.ist.utl.pt
Proespaço, Portuguese Association of Space Industries: www.proespaco.pt
SPA, Portuguese Society of Astronomy: www.sp-astronomia.pt
SSETI, Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative: sseti.ist.utl.pt
FCT Space Office, Foundation for Science and Technology Space Office: alfa.fct.mctes.pt/apoios/cooptrans/espaco
Studies Aerospace Engineering, University of Lisbon: fenix.ist.utl.pt/cursos/meaer
Astronomy degrees, University of Porto: www.fc.up.pt/dfa/astro
Astronomy and Astrophysics courses, Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon: www.oal.ul.pt/index.php?link=cursos
Documents Portuguese Space Catalogue 2009, Space Office, 2009
Reports
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