Portugal gained reinforcement in space. On the morning of Monday, March 30, six national satellites were launched from a Space X Falcon 9 rocket at the Vandenberg base in California. At 12:02 pm (São Paulo time), the ignitions were activated and the intense fire from the start of the spacecraft lit up the screen in the auditorium of the Knowledge Pavilion, where the Government, engineers, scientists and businesspeople were watching the launch.
Four of the satellites carry Portuguese poetry into the sky. Agustina, Pessoa, Saramago and Camões are satellites developed by Luso Space, which will integrate the Lusíada constellation, to reinforce the maritime monitoring service and serve as a “waze of the oceans”, according to the company’s CEO, for vessels.
“We will allow any ship in the middle of the sea to have communications at a very affordable price”said Ivo Vieira, remembering that the first equipment of Portugal’s first commercial satellite constellation had already been launched last year. “We will be able to share data at sea, such as pirate alerts, weather, people in need of support, drifting icebergs, oil spills and much more”added the CEO.
Luso Space’s satellites use the VHF wave for communications, “which allows them to be much more resilient than Starlink”, compared Ivo Vieira.
By 2027, there will be 12 satellites in the Lusíada constellation. Data from these four released now will begin to be analyzed in about three months. Admitting that the price for the service is still being defined, Ivo Vieira also confirmed the creation of a second model, to be free for browsers.
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