This Monday, the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education awarded the head of the PoSAT-1 consortium, Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues, the Medal of Scientific Merit as part of the 30th anniversary of the launch of the first Portuguese satellite.
Carvalho Rodrigues was honored by Elvira Fortunato in the auditorium of the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC) in Lisbon “for the vision he had 30 years ago” that led to the launch of PoSAT-1, organized by the Portuguese Space Agency. .
On September 25, 1993, PoSAT-1 entered orbit following the launch of Flight 59 of a European Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
At the time, the cost of the project was approximately five million euros and was financed by the Special Program for the Development of Portuguese Industry (PEDIP), the National Institute of Engineering, Technology and Innovation (INETI), Efacec, Alcatel, Marconi, Ogma, University of Beira Interior and Cedintec.
The professor, considered the father of the first Portuguese satellite, said the Medal of Scientific Merit “honors the Portuguese people” and former Industry and Energy Minister Luis Mira Amaral, who “brought all the networks together 30 years ago.”