Anacom issues license for EOSSAT-1

The National Communications Authority issued a command and control license to EOSSat last week, referring to EOSSAT-1, a South African satellite, the fifth licensed by the regulator, the entity announced this Monday.

The license was issued on July 22, and the satellite is in orbit at an altitude of 540 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Its mission is in the field of Earth Observation, with a special focus on monitoring and supporting the management of smart agriculture.

“This is the 5th license granted by Anacom, as a Space Authority (SA), representing the culmination of a collaborative process between Anacom and EOSSat, Ltd., which began in January of this year, with a view to instructing the licensing process for the satellite's command and control operation”, explains the regulator.

Anacom “thus joins the Portuguese space project, in the 21st century, to go into space, issuing a unitary command and control license”.

Licensing the command and control of this satellite “protects the international responsibilities of the Portuguese State and national strategic interests, in addition to imposing a set of duties regarding space sustainability and security.”

According to Anacom, the licensing of space operations "points to a growing trend in both the number of requests and the diversity of space missions that the national space industry, academia, and laboratories have expressed" to the regulator.

Anacom expects more space operations to be licensed this year.