Today, 30 years later, Portugal will launch its second satellite into space. Aeros, as it is called, travels on a SpaceX rocket, departing the company's base in Vanderberg, USA, at 9:18 pm, Lisbon time.
Aeros heads into Earth orbit with an ambitious mission: to observe and study the sea and species on the Portuguese geological platform, which is the fifth largest in the world.
Aeros represents an investment of 2.78 million euros
Several scientific institutions will be involved in the analysis of data collected by Aeros Crédito@ImagemcriadapelaIAMicrosoftDesigner
Aeros is a 4.5 kilo nanosatellite, but even though it is featherweight, it represents a heavier investment of 2.78 million euros, and was co-financed to the tune of 1.88 million euros by the European Regional Development Fund ( Feder).
The equipment will remain in Earth orbit at an altitude of 510 kilometers, a little higher than the location of the International Space Station.
All communications and data and image collection will be carried out by the Santa Maria teleport, in the Azores, owned by Thales Edisoft Portugal, which leads the national consortium responsible for developing this satellite.
In turn, the CEiiA engineering center in Matosinhos will have the mission of processing the data and images received while the universities of Algarve, Porto and Minho, together with the Instituto Superior Técnico and Instituto do Mar will provide scientific support.
Portuguese geological platform is one of the largest in the world
The new Aeros will have an ambitious and very laborious mission that will be to observe the Portuguese geological platform. This is characterized by being one of the largest in the world, more specifically it is the fifth largest, globally.
The Portuguese exclusive economic zone also includes a huge area of ocean and, for this reason, is 14.9 times larger than the territory of mainland Portugal.
Currently, this area, which has extensive geological and marine resources, is managed through services provided by external entities that provide spatial analysis and remote detection.
This service will now be provided by Aeros, which, today at 9:18 pm, will head into space to fulfill its ambitious mission.