AEROS MH-1, the first satellite totally developed in Portugal was sent to space 05/03/2024

AEROS MH-1 was launched on March 4 from Vandenberg Space Base, in California, on board of Space X's Falcon 9. It is the first Portuguese satellite to be launched into space in the last thirty years. The first, PoSat-1, was launched in 1993 and has since been decommissioned.

The MH-1, named AEROS, a pioneering satellite in the Portuguese space industry and unique in this segment, has already been successfully put into orbit and will make it possible to exclusively study the sea, the pollution and marine life. It is the first of a set of 30 satellites that will form a constellation of ocean monitoring.

The name MH-1 was given after Manuel Heitor as a tribute to his contribution to Portugal's space strategy and the strengthening of the Portuguese scientific and innovation ecosystem, during his mandate as Minister of Science and Higher Education.

Started in 2020 under the leadership of Thales Edisoft and CEiiA, in an international partnership with MIT through the MIT Portugal program. The consortium also includes a series of Portuguese entities, such as SpinWorks, Dstelecom, the Universities of Minho, Porto and Algarve, Instituto Superior Técnico/IN+, Colab +Atlantic, Okeanos - Institute of Marine Sciences, and Air Centre.

Watch the MH-1 launch event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A51slYfQzx4&t=5s