The Spanish government dares not follow Portugal's space policy

Portugal's prime minister, the socialist António Costa, has very clear ideas about the advisability of investing in the space ecosystem. And the passing of the years has proved him right. The Portuguese country, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the current six-month period, is pleased to see that Brussels is now going to devote nearly 15 billion euros to strengthening the fabric of the space industry on the Old Continent.

But when António Costa took office in November 2015, none of the above was in sight. However, he opted to promote technologies that are positioned up there and that return to Earth, and he made a very simple decision: he chose the right person, entrusted him with the area of space competences and put him at the head of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. His name is Manuel Heitor.

A 62-year-old engineer with postgraduate degrees from prestigious British and American universities, a researcher and entrepreneur within the Portuguese administration itself, Manuel Heitor was already Prime Minister José Sócrates' Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education during his six-year term in office. With an open personality and a wealth of knowledge, he has been able to steer his department with a vision of the future, particularly in the field of space technology. 

Manuel Heitor assumes responsibilities that, in Spain, were largely assigned to the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, for which in June 2018 President Pedro Sánchez appointed the 58-year-old engineer and astronaut Pedro Duque. But Duque's powers were curtailed in January 2020 when his role in Universities was handed over to Manuel Castells, a 79-year-old multifaceted professor.

For better or worse, Pedro Duque continues to maintain his responsibilities in space matters and the representation of Spain in global space forums, as does Manuel Heitor. What are the goals that the Portuguese super-minister has been able to achieve? Well, many and very important ones.

Manuel Heitor has done his utmost to further increase Prime Minister António Costa's interest in the strategic nature of outer space. And he has impressed upon his colleagues in the Executive, including the Ministers of Economy and Finance, the need to strengthen the country's incipient space industry, to create more research and development centres, and also to create more infrastructure dedicated to space.

What has the work of a minister who has remained in his post despite several changes of government come to fruition? No more and no less than putting all his efforts into enacting a Space Law - which Spain lacks -, into agreeing the creation of a Space Agency - which Spain does not have - and into helping to formulate a National Space Strategy 2030, which is conspicuous by its absence in Spain.

The Space Strategy 2030 was launched on 12 March 2018 and aims to boost the industry and strengthen the country's participation in the European Space Agency (ESA). Its main lines of action are aimed at increasing space-derived services and applications and favouring the construction of systems and infrastructures for the production of space data, as well as developing Portuguese competences through scientific research and innovation. 

The Strategy was followed in January 2019 by the Space Law, which regulates and promotes the space activities of operators established in its territories, the supervision practised by the Portuguese Republic and which protects the nation's political and strategic interests. Two months later, the Space Agency was created, under the name of Portugal Space. In charge of implementing the 2030 Strategy, it is an entity constituted under the umbrella of public institutions such as the Foundation for Science and Technology, the National Innovation Agency, the Ministry of National Defence and the Autonomous Region of the Azores. 

To complete the scenario, the Portuguese authorities have a very ambitious project underway 1,400 kilometres from Lisbon: to set up a space base on the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores archipelago, for launchers to put small satellites into orbit. It is an initiative that has the full backing of the government of the regional authorities of the Azores and the technical advice of the European Space Agency, ESA. The island's proximity to the Equator means that take-offs from there require less ascent energy than from Russia, the United States or China, thus saving money.

In its initial stages, more than a dozen companies were interested in participating in the management of the new spaceport, but the demands of the Azores government have kept its construction on hold. Lisbon's initiatives do not end there. The ESA's Space Monitoring Station on the island of Santa Maria was reinforced on April 24. On that day, the installation of a new 15-metre diameter communications antenna was completed to improve services to the European and Portuguese space agency. 

On May 14, the Portuguese Minister of Defence, João Gomes, inaugurated the facilities of the Portuguese Space Surveillance and Tracking System, which is part of a Network established in 2014 by the European Union. Its Operations Centre is located on the island of Terceira and the Remote Monitoring Centre on the island of Madeira, both in the Azores.

The advanced equipment installed at both sites is the result of technology from Deimos Engenharia, the Portuguese subsidiary of the Spanish company Elecnor Deimos, which won the international public tender launched by the Ministry of National Defence in 2020. With powerful telescopes, the Portuguese military observes the trajectories of debris orbiting the Earth to prevent them from impacting observation, telecommunications and navigation satellites. In this case, the Spanish Air Force has similar facilities, whose Space Operations and Surveillance Centre (COVE) is located at the Torrejón air base (Madrid).

Portugal's investment in its small space industry generates an annual turnover of around 40 million euros and employs more than 1,500 people, according to official sources. But it is growing. To put the above figures into context, the number and international importance of Spanish space companies is much higher, their turnover reached 863 million euros in 2019 - the turnover for 2020 is not yet known - and provided direct jobs for 4,230 technicians.

If we add to this the important infrastructures in monitoring stations, facilities and R&D&I centres in Spain, it is striking that Pedro Sánchez's government has still not established an Agency, a Strategy and a Space Law, although the latter has been in draft form for years. On the other hand, for António Costa's government, it is essential to strengthen a sector that is an engine of growth, helps the prosperity of its citizens and contributes to positioning the country on the global geopolitical stage.

The Republic of Portugal is not just a neighbouring nation of Spain. It is much more. In the words of its Ambassador in Madrid, João António de Costa Mira Gomes, Portugal and Spain are also two countries that are "brothers and friends". The Lisbon Government has clearly seen that space activities are of growing importance in contemporary societies and that the innumerable benefits derived from their products, services and technologies are to a large extent being used for socio-economic development. Portugal has understood this. Other countries are turning a deaf ear. But sooner rather than later, they will succumb to reality.