National Points of Contact
Portugal
Vera Alves
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SGAC Portugal

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 specialized in aerospace engineering, universities are opening more vacancies for space related subjects not just in engineering but also in astronomy and astrophysics. There are also law students interested in this area and starting to develop their final papers on space law. Regarding student groups, there is one space associations in Portugal, Euroavia, with two local groups, one in Lisboa and another in Covilhã.

It is the Government’s responsibility to define the national strategy plan, including the areas of the European space programmes to invest on. The 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. In June 2011, Space Office released an updated version of this Portuguese Space Catalogue.

Country-Specific Events in 2012

coming soon!

Interesting Web Links for the Young Generation in Portugal

Groups & Entities

Studies

Documents

Reports