With 350 participants from both countries, the Luxembourg Official Mission to Portugal held from May 10 to May 13, 2022, addressed the topic of the digital economy of tomorrow with a focus on ICT and sustainability, financial services, sustainable construction, tourism & business events and space.
Discussions about space cooperation were a key component of Luxembourg Official Mission to Portugal aiming at fostering the collaboration between the two national space ecosystems and finding areas where both countries can work together on defined space projects.
Space cooperation between Portugal and Luxembourg has already been implemented through the signing of an MoU between the Ministry of Economy in Luxembourg and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal back in 2017. This MoU has laid the foundations for cooperation in the field of space science, technology, and applications, providing for joint activities in areas such as Earth observation, telecommunications, Atlantic observation, exploration of space resources or entrepreneurship.
At the occasion of the Official Mission to Portugal, the Luxembourg delegation took the opportunity to visit LusoSpace’s premises - a high-tech engineering solutions company developing and testing advanced technological systems and components for the space industry – and the Institute of Plasma and Nuclear Fusion (IPFN) which has been working on the European Shock-Tube for High Enthalpy Research (ESTHER) project in the framework of an ESA contract since 2019.
As part of the delegation present onsite, Luxembourg-based start-up Yuri introduced its activities during the start-up event held on May 11. The Luxembourg Space Agency, the Luxembourg Institute Science and Technology (LIST), RHEA Group and CREACTION were also invited to speak at the thematic seminar dedicated to space held on May 12 along with companies from the Portuguese space industry on topics including carbon mapping, cybersecurity in space and entrepreneurship.
Further meetings will be organized between Portugal and Luxembourg, who will continue exploring opportunities and areas of cooperation together.
