Scheme for access to and exercise of space activities approved - Communication

Subsecretário Regional da Presidência

The National Government's decree amending Decree-Law no. 16/2019 of January 22, which approves the scheme for access to and exercise of space activities, was published last week.

The political, legal and legal conditions have finally been created for space activities to develop rapidly in the Azores and for the establishment of a space access and return node.

Following the adoption of the Regional Strategy for Space, the Regional Government promoted a fruitful dialogue with the National Government to reconsider the legal framework for public intervention in the development of space activities in the Autonomous Region of the Azores. The Decree-Law that is now coming into force updates the assumptions determining the attractiveness of the use of the Azores by operators in the space sector, which has seen significant development in recent years.

As such, the fulfilment of this goal, pursuant to Decree-Law no. 20/2024 of February 2, will be the direct intervention of ANACOM, legally defined as the national authority for space, and the Portuguese Space Agency, of which the Autonomous Region of the Azores is a shareholder, whose responsibilities entail the promotion of the sector in Portugal to operators and the monitoring of activity licensing processes.

Under the terms of the same decree, the Autonomous Region of the Azores, while exercising its political powers, will issue a binding opinion on each of the licensing applications for activities to be carried out in the Region.

Given its participation in the Portuguese Space Agency and the importance that the development of this sector will have in the social and economic development of the Region, the Regional Government has been working in conjunction with the Portuguese Space Agency to ensure that the promotion of the Region and the creation of attractive conditions and synergies will lead to developments shortly. These will culminate in the implementation of long-awaited projects, which include space return operations, test flights and orbital launches.

The National Government believes that this law is a decisive step towards supporting the Region in a sector of activity that has been growing very rapidly, and for which the location of the Azores is especially relevant. It will enable the development of a space ecosystem, particularly on the island of Santa Maria.