| Summary: |
One of the most valuable resources we have to protect are the world's Oceans. Oceans have a prominent role in the Earth ecosystem, as they cover most of the Earth's surface, contain millions
of plants and animals, influence global weather, and produces about 70 percent of the oxygen we breathe. Oceans are thus essential for technological, scientific, economic and social development,
having enabled exploration and commerce for hundreds of years. As Portugal starts to assume a stronger position as a robust space-faring nation, the Consortium looks for the scientific and
economic synergies from New Space technologies and opportunities that could be leveraged to prospect, monitor and value the Oceans in a sustainable manner, aligned with both the "Atlantic
Interactions" research agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Consortium shall develop Portuguese technologies and competences to monitor and value the ocean, by combining national and international knowhow to build the AEROS nanosatellite
constellation. Managed from Portugal, AEROS is an integrated system of assets and capabilities including different existing, improved, and new platforms operating in the Ocean and Space,
equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and technologies, all connected through a communication network linked to a data gathering, processing and dissemination system.
To promote the national scientific and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and boost the links and connections between both, AEROS combines private companies like Edisoft, Spin.Works and DST,
universities, as UMinho, FCUP, UAlgarve, IST and IMAR, and research and interface institutions, to better balance the two, including CEiiA and +Atlantic. To fast track innovation and industrial development and the internationalization that AEROS can achieve, the national entities have partnered with researchers from different fields within MIT. |