Investment forms part of launch of “Atlantic Constellation”
Portugal’s Air Force has acquired a satellite that captures high-resolution images, which the military can use to predict weather phenomena and natural disasters, and assist in search and rescue missions, among other military purposes.
The parties formalised the agreement on Thursday in Monsanto, Lisbon, and the Aerospace Technology and Innovation Centre (CTI)—a partnership between the Air Force, the CEiiA engineering centre and GEOSAT—and the company ICEYE signed it, writes Lusa.
The agreement covers the acquisition, through funds from the PRR (Plan for Recovery and Resilience) of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite – allowing the capture of high and very high resolution images under any weather conditions – a ground component and an antenna.
Entities also signed a memorandum of understanding to exchange knowledge, which will enable Portugal, through the Air Force, business and academia, to build its own satellites in the future.
This investment forms part of the launch of the so-called “Atlantic Constellation”, a series of satellites for Earth observation.
The goal is to reach 26 satellites, 12 of the SAR type and 14 optical.
As sources have explained, the Air Force can use this satellite for support in multiple operations beyond those associated with more traditional military purposes. The war in Ukraine, for example, has often made use of satellite images, but SAR offers a gamut of possibilities, including collecting data on maritime pollution/ supporting civilian areas such as agriculture.
Another boon of this type of investment is that it allows “talent to be retained” in Portugal, promoting a “brain gain for the nation” (instead of the more habitual ‘brain drain’ as highly qualified young people move to more ‘go getting’ countries).
Source material: LUSA
