The success of German company Isar Aerospace, which became the first commercial company to launch a rocket from Europe, in Norway, placing five small satellites in orbit, opens the door to a race for spaceports and puts pressure on Portugal to accelerate the spaceport project on the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores. Ricardo Conde, president of the Portuguese Space Agency, states that Portugal needs to manage to launch this year, "even if it is suborbital," emphasizing that the moment is urgent for the country to position itself as a launch hub in Europe. The European market is witnessing the emergence of several new operators, such as German Rocket Factory Augsburg, French MaiaSpace and projects in Spain, which will require operators to differentiate themselves given the limited market size.
Isar arrives at a time when Europe is seeking greater strategic autonomy from the United States. Ricardo Conde considers that "gradually there is a transition from dependence on the United States," noting this in the military sphere and that "in space it will follow exactly the same dimension." Portuguese company LusoSpace, founded in 2002, has already launched eight satellites in March, mainly through SpaceX's Falcon 9, but Ivo Vieira, founder and CEO of the company, stated that it is increasingly difficult to launch with Americans because flights are very full and orbits are defined by them, which leaves room for smaller, more flexible European launchers.
Portugal will be present at the Space Summit promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron, on September 9 and 10 in Paris, where issues of European cooperation with countries such as Australia, Japan, India and the United Arab Emirates will be addressed. The event has drawn attention after the White House pressured American companies to boycott the summit, at a time of growing tension between the United States and Europe. SpaceX, Blue Origin, StokeSpace and Starcloud informed that they will not participate in the event.
The spaceport project in Santa Maria represents a strategic opportunity for Portugal, with a license for a launcher already submitted. Ivo Vieira argues that "the Port of Santa Maria, in terms of short-term space access, is the one that has the most possibility of having a very high return" and that the Azorean location is an advantage for inclined orbits, while Norway has an advantage for polar orbits. Gregory Mann, NASA's representative in Europe, stated that Santa Maria "could very well be one of the main, if not the main, departure and arrival point on the continent." Ricardo Conde emphasizes that defense and security will be two major dimensions of the space market, noting that "it would be extremely important that our constellations were launched from our territory."
