16.08.2025

The Azores Spaceport has been licensed to operate and is expected to have its first launch in spring 2026, almost five years later than initially planned.

The license was granted by the regulatory body, Anacom - National Communications Authority, to the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium, which submitted the application in December.

The license is valid for five years and "refers exclusively to the operation of the launch centre to be located in Malbusca," on the Azorean island of Santa Maria, Anacom and the Portuguese Space Agency said in a joint statement.

This is the first license granted by Portugal to operate a spaceport.

Speaking to Lusa, the director of the Portuguese consortium, Bruno Carvalho, said that, after Anacom granted the license on Tuesday, the first launches are expected in the spring of 2026, with suborbital flights to test technology, operations, and vehicles.

The consortium has already contracted missions, which still require specific licensing, with companies from Poland, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

The first flight of "Space Rider," the European Space Agency's unmanned space shuttle, is scheduled to land in Santa Maria in 2027.

That year, the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium expects to begin launching orbital flights to place satellites in space.

The consortium, formed in 2020, includes Ilex Space, a company focused on the space business, and Optimal, a manufacturer of composites and metal components for satellites and rockets.

The foundations for the creation of a spaceport in the Azores were laid during the term of then-Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, who even targeted the first launches of small satellites for the summer of 2021.

The process faced setbacks related to the bidding process for the construction and operation of the infrastructure.

Furthermore, the possibility of licensing space bases in Portugal was only defined in legislation in February 2024.

According to the legislation governing access to and exercise of space activities, the space authority, Anacom, is responsible for granting licenses after approval by the government.

Quelle: THE PORTUGAL News