Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich / EPA
SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, lifts off from Launch Complex 39A, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.
First Portuguese commercial satellite is launched into space this Tuesday, on a SpaceX ride. It will transmit real-time information to ships. “Waze of the oceans” will be “the first Portuguese satellite to generate revenue”.
The first Portuguese commercial satellite, PoSAT-2will be launched this Tuesday by billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX with the aim of creating a “Waze of the oceans” — a service that will allow broadcasting real-time information for shipsincluding “weather, tide, seabed information, pirate sightings, emergencies, oil spills and icebergs”.
Developed by Portuguese LusoSpacethe satellite intends to revolutionize maritime navigation and is expected to generate annual revenue of 100 million euros from 2029, CEO Ivo Yves Vieira reveals this Monday.
“This will be the first Portuguese satellite to generate revenue”, says the physical engineer: “it is the Waze of the oceans“.
🚀 🇵🇹 Did you know that there is another Portuguese satellite about to go to Space?
It will launch its PoSat-2 next Tuesday. The satellite will be the first in the ATON constellation, which will revolutionize communications and ocean mapping 🛰️— Portuguese Space Agency (@portugalspace)
With VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) technology, PoSAT-2 — named after PoSAT-1, the first Portuguese satellite, launched in 1993 — will be the first step in creating a constellation of 12 satellites which will cover the oceans globally by 2029. Currently, the company already operates the AIS system, and expects revenues of 10 million euros annually from 2027.
“The VDS is the system that will allow you to send more information and that will create the Waze service for the oceans, explains the businessman.
The launch of PoSAT-2 will take place at the Vandenberg Space Base in California, with the rocket Falcon 9 from SpaceX. The satellite will be placed in an initial orbit at an altitude of 500 km, later rising to 550 km, which will extend its useful life.
“Through this system, we will create a new type of innovative service around the world“, Yves Vieira in December, when he also presented “Twitter of the oceans”.
Investment in PoSAT-2 totaled 15 million euros, with financing from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). The mission includes another Portuguese satellite, Prometheus-1developed by the University of Minho. This educational project aims to train future specialists in the space field and had a budget of 100 thousand euros, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology and the Instituto Superior Técnico.
In March, Portugal returned to Space with another national satellite, the MH-1 of the project Eroshe also rides with SpaceX.
The first Portuguese satellite to enter orbit was PoSat-1, on September 26, 1993. It is today adrift, after having stopped communicating in 2006.
In May 2024, the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon received a license for space operations to launch and command and control a satellite for Space.
In question, the satellite ISTSAT-1 (Cubesat 1U), which took place in July. The rocket will guarantee the European Space Agency (ESA) its autonomous access to space in a more sustainable: will eliminate the upper stage of the launcher as it ascends, to prevent it from becoming space debris.
