The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology stated today that the installation of the new European Space Agency (ESA) antenna in the archipelago represents "a further step in the affirmation of the Azores towards the creation of new aerospace-based services and applications."
The new antenna, coming from Perth, Australia, has already arrived in Praia da Vitória on the island of Terceira, where it should remain for about two months for maintenance, cleaning and painting.
This antenna, which is about 15 metres in diameter, will be installed on the island of Santa Maria. According to Gui Menezes, it will "enable allow the Region to position itself in an area of excellence regarding highly specialised services for the operation, production and reception of data related to space infrastructures."
All operations to be held on Terceira and, later, on Santa Maria will be monitored by technicians from the Regional Secretariat for the Sea, Science and Technology, the public entity responsible for the management of this project. This is the result of a protocol signed in September 2016 by ESA, the National Government and the Government of the Azores.
"This infrastructure falls within the Regional Government's strategy to attract innovative aerospace-based services," said Gui Menezes. The government official added that the Azorean Government has undertaken efforts to "attract foreign investment that enhances the services already provided by various entities in the regional aerospace industry."
In this regard, the Regional Secretary highlighted the company EDISOFT. It will use this antenna in several space missions, namely PROBA3 programme and the monitoring of satellite launchers.
The installation of the new antenna represents a total investment of about 2.4 million Euros, of which 350 thousand Euros will be allocated by the Government of the Azores. This amount translates into direct hiring of services in the archipelago.
According to estimates, this infrastructure will guarantee a direct investment of about one million Euros in the Region for one year. It is expected that, from 2018, its services represent gains of about 250 thousand Euros per year.