This Tuesday marks 30 years since Portugal launched what is, until now, the only Portuguese satellite into orbit.
On September 26, 1993, the Ariane 4 rocket lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, with PoSat-1. The development of the team was the result of a consortium between several Portuguese companies and universities.
Professor Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues was the coordinator of PoSat-1 and nicknamed the “father” of the satellite. In statements to TSFCarvalho Rodrigues recalled the beginning of the process, which involved “becoming aware that in Portugal there were companies, industry, and there was technology and science that, combined, were capable of making Portugal enter the club that, at that time, was restricted, from space”.
The path to the development of PoSat-1 began long before Portugal joined ESA, the European Space Agency, which took place in 2000. The work was intense but, for Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues, there was a moment when the one who finally became aware of the importance of what was happening. “The man who came to sign the Arianespace contract, at the end of my signing, said: ‘you are responsible for the satellite’. Because, when we sign a launch contract, we sign the moment, the day, the hour, the minute, the second… And this man opens a box with a very normal watch. But inside there was a dial, silver, and it said Arianespace. He opened the watch, placed it in front of me and said: ‘Now I have this watch so that you give, so you can see the time go by.’ And at that moment, I came to my senses, and I saw the problem I was in. Because, every day of delay due to not having the satellite ready was an enormous amount of money,” he explained. Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues.
Finally, as the clock struck 2:45 a.m. on mainland Portugal on September 26, PoSat-1 headed into space. Professor Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues remembers that there was a lot of tension in the launch control room because “either we launch at that moment or we will only launch it in a few months. Then, when the rocket starts to fly, even if we are afraid, we have to be very Don’t worry because we have to follow several parameters to see if everything is okay, to see if we need to make some corrections, and that takes 25 minutes, until the satellites are in orbit, the worst thing is that when they are launching an object like that into space, is when it is unoccupied. The worst day at the launch base, in those months that we were there, was Sunday. On Sunday the base was closed,” highlights Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues.
After PoSat-1, there were projects to send a second satellite and build a satellite network. Already in this century there is talk of a return to space and, in February of next year, the launch of a satellite aboard the Space-X Falcon is planned. And as to whether Portugal has a future in space, Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues has no doubts. “Of course yes. The future of humanity is to walk on roads. The Romans invented terrestrial roads. Before the Romans there were no roads. Now we have telecommunications routes, in which information is separated from communication,” he concludes. the ‘father’ of the first Portuguese satellite.
Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues’ work in developing PoSat-1 is still remembered today. This Monday, the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education presented the professor with the medal for scientific merit, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the launch of the satellite, at a conference organized by the Portuguese Space Agency.
Source: TSF
