On December 6th, IPN co-organized the event Collaboration in Space, a UK-Portugal Dialogue, with the British Embassy in Lisbon. The objective of the event was to create a moment of networking and focus on opportunities and challenges in the Space sector and the role of international collaboration.
The event happened in Lisbon, at the António de Magalhães Cardoso auditorium, at Vieira de Almeida (VdA), which was one of the event’s co-organizers. Besides VdA, we also had the help of the AED Cluster Portugal.
The first panel was focused on the New Space Economy: Opportunities & Challenges, moderated by Carolina Rodrigues from NewSpace Portugal and with four speakers, André Guerra from Connected, Joshua Western from Space Forge, Ricardo Cabral from Spotlite, and Bruno Carvalho from Atlantic Spaceport Consortium. Connected, Spotlite and Atlantic Spaceport Consortium are 3 ESA BIC Alumni.
Space technologies provide global connectivity, advanced data analytics, and innovative manufacturing opportunities. This panel discussed how British and Portuguese companies are taking advantage of the immense opportunities of the new space economy and the challenges ahead.
On the second panel, entrepreneurs talked about their experiences in Portugal and the UK, focusing on how the international collaboration is essential to drive innovation and strategic investments in the space sector. It was moderated by Rui Santos from AED Cluster Portugal, and the speakers were Rafel Jorda Siquier from Open Cosmos, Rodrigo Pascoal from Critical Software, Pedro Rodrigues from Tekever, and Ivo Vieira from Lusospace.
There were also a few keynotes of Nigel Boud from the British Embassy Lisbon, Hugo Costa from the Portugal Space, Jessica Fell from the UK Space, and Emir Sirage from NewSpace Portugal. These keynotes also showed the importance of the space economy in Portugal and the role of the Agenda NewSpace for this growth in Portugal.
