The space sector is considered to have great potential for the future, particularly in the areas of security and space communications, which are central to this project, which includes the refurbishment of a 30-meter telecommunications antenna located on the island of São Miguel. The rehabilitation of the teleport and the conversion of the antenna will contribute to the observation of space traffic in geostationary orbits and to the security of European space assets.
This agreement reinforces, on the one hand, Portugal's position as a strategic European telecommunications hub and that of the Azores archipelago as an Atlantic hub for space and, on the other, Altice's strategy as a player on the communications map and gateway to Europe, interconnecting continents by space, air, land or submarine.
For ThothX, this project is an important part of its global coverage strategy - with the 46m antenna operational in Canada, the 30m antenna refurbishment project in Australia and the Azores refurbishment project - to reach 95% GEO. Several Portuguese R&D institutions have already signaled their interest in potential future collaboration in radio astronomy studies, an aspect of great importance to the company, whose collaborations with Canadian academia have been ongoing for some years.
For Altice Portugal, this new project is part of its strategy to develop and support projects of national and international prominence that mark the future of national innovation.
The company's Teleport in Alfouvar (Sintra) is a case in point. The infrastructure is the largest in the country and, in addition to operating a range of satellite services for MEO customers, it houses 4 gateways of the largest global telecommunications satellite operators, which operate from geostationary orbits to the most up-to-date low orbits that reduce the latency of this type of telecommunications. The relevance of this infrastructure in mainland Portugal is leveraged by the country's geographical location and the high level of know-how of the local teams.
Altice Labs is also involved in the field of satellite communications (5G Nanosatellite) as it intends to present itself as a supplier of two-way telecommunications solutions between space and earth for NTN - Non Terrestrial Networks. To this end, the Altice Group's innovation hub, the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) and the University of Luxembourg are setting up a consortium to apply to the European Space Agency for a project in this area.
Altice Portugal is committed to leading technological and digital transformation through innovation, anticipating trends in the future of technology, investing and intervening where there is room to do things differently and better. This project is an example of this, as it is an important step in the knowledge of the space domain, not only for the Azores, but also for Portugal and Europe.