Another station will be installed on the island of Santa Maria in the context of space of space technologies, announced the Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and Infrastructures.

The proposal submitted by EDISOFT for the installation of Galileo Sensor Station (GSS) on Santa Maria won the tender for the installation of this station in one of the three archipelagos: Azores, Madeira and the Canaries. The result of the tender has just been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

According to the Regional Secretariat for Science, Technology and Infrastructures, this is an investment over one million Euros.

The installation of this space station entails the provision of services and an infrastructure for the implementation and operation of GSS; the provision of the necessary consumables for the operation and maintenance of GSS; the maintenance of the infrastructure where the GSS will be installed; the provision of qualified workforce to support the integration and monitoring teams that will supervise the installation procedures.

It should be noted that the ESA tracking station and the North Atlantic Maritime Surveillance Centre already operate on the island of Santa Maria. Moreover, a station of the Atlantic Network of Geodynamic and Space Stations featuring a VLBI antenna will soon be installed on the same island, following the Protocol signed between the Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and Infrastructures and the Director-General of the National Geographic Institute of Spain on Santa Maria on April 29, 2010.

According to José Contente, the installation of the Galileo Sensor Station represents "another step towards the consolidation of the spatial cluster on Santa Maria, an investment carried out by the Regional Government."