Portugal Business News - ESA Space Solutions Portugal has opened applications for the Spark 4 Tech Open Call 2022, a Space Technology Transfer Feasibility Study for Portuguese companies, with proposals to be sent by November 4, 2022. Spark 4 Business already provided support to 26 Portuguese start-ups for an amount of Euros 650,000.
The Space Portugal Spark 4 Tech initiative, that is located at the Instituto Pedro Nunes in Coimbra, aims at funding studies to prove the relevance of space technology for other technological fields. Each project will receive Euros 50,000 for the feasibility study that is supported by European Space Agency (ESA), by the Portuguese Space Agency and by ANACOM.
Another Portugal Space investment initiative is the 24th edition of the ESA Investor Forum – “Your Business Powered by Space” - to be held in Lisbon on 31 Oct 2022. It is a high-profile event for space-related investment opportunities, connecting start-ups and scale-ups from the ESA network of international investors. The Forum will showcase Europe’s most promising start-ups using space technologies. Also in Coimbra, Portugal, the ActinSpace event will be held on 18-19 November 2022.
The Portugal Space ecosystem is dynamic and diverse, from start-ups to large companies, many having proven track records in international markets. Nine Portuguese companies were present in this year’s edition of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), one of the world’s largest space industry events. The Portuguese Space Agency included this year GEOSAT, TEKEVER, LusoSpace, AIR Centre, Omnidea which promotes the Azores space ecosystem, as well as Neuraspace that is a start-up operating in the space traffic segment.
The Portugal Space involvement in the Ariel mission, that will be launched in 2029, will include the study of the atmospheres of around a thousand exoplanets. It is the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of exoplanets, enabling science to go beyond the boundaries of the Solar System.
In order to promote innovation, the Portuguese Space Agency will launch a European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC) for universities to launch their projects.
As an Innovation Partner, IPN is a Portuguese ESA SME Point of contact to support SMEs from space and non-space backgrounds to work of R&D programs. These include space technology scouting and the potential for transfer to other industries.
Portugal Space is accelerating its development in the field of space technology investments that aim at innovative technological transfers from space down to Earth, on the path towards developing the space ecosystem that will enable the use of space for a sustainable Earth.
