“Aeros” will observe oceans for three years
Portugal’s second satellite will be launched into space from the United States tomorrow to observe the oceans for three years.
“Aeros”, a 4.5 kilogram nano-satellite, will be on board a Falcon 9 rocket, which will take off from SpaceX’s Vandenberg base at 21:18 (Lisbon time), according to Thales Edisoft Portugal, the leader of the national consortium that designed, built and will operate the device, and which brings together several companies and academic institutions.
The nano-satellite which is being launched 30 years after “PoSat-1” – the first Portuguese satellite – will be in Earth orbit at an altitude of 510 kilometers, slightly above the International Space Station, the astronauts’ “home” and laboratory.
Communications and the collection of data and images will be carried out from the Santa Maria teleport in the Azores, maintained by Thales Edisoft Portugal.
CEiiA engineering center in Matosinhos, one of the partners in the consortium that built the nanosatellite, will process the data and images for scientific studies.
The universities of Algarve, Porto and Minho, the Instituto Superior Técnico and Imar – Instituto do Mar, among others, are providing scientific support for this mission, which has also been joined by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in the United States, through the MIT-Portugal cooperation program.
“Aeros” began being worked on in 2020. It represents an investment of €2.78 million, co-financed with €1.88 million by Feder – the European Regional Development Fund.
“PoSat-1” – a 50-kilogram microsatellite – was launched in September 1993, but has since been decommissioned.
Aeros’ launch can be watched at an event at CEiiA, in Matosinhos.
LUSA
