There is now a license for a spaceport in Santa Maria in the Azores.

There is now a space launch site in Santa Maria, Azores. Anacom issued the first license for a spaceport in Portugal to the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium (ASC), it announced in a joint statement with the Portuguese Space Agency. The license is only for the center; other licenses are still required for launch operations.

The license, valid for five years, is exclusively for "operation of the launch center to be located in Malbusca, on the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores." Anacom and the Portuguese Space Agency specify that this license "does not cover the launch operations themselves, which require specific licensing and evaluation":

A study by the European Space Agency (ESA) identified Malbusca as the location where the construction of this space base would be technically and financially viable, with a view to launching mini-satellites. The Portuguese Space Agency is responsible for "promoting and guiding the technical and strategic evaluation of the request, taking into account its expertise and in-depth knowledge of this area at national and international level, with a view to obtaining prior government approval," Anacom specifies.

This step that is being taken now is possible, the entities also indicate in the statement, due to the review of the legal framework in February 2024, which created a regime for these centers, allowing "any entity - public or private - to request the installation and operation of launch centers, as long as security requirements are met and national strategic interests are safeguarded."

The Regional Government of the Azores and the Vila do Porto City Council were consulted during this licensing process, and both gave a positive opinion.

The applicant, now holding the first license, is ASC, whose objective, it states in a statement, is to "advance to the next level of activity, continuing to attract launcher operators, who can now initiate their own licensing processes, designating the Malbusca Launch Center as their spaceport to the Space Authority." ASC expects to conduct its first suborbital flights in the spring of 2026. These still require licensing.

ASC is a consortium made up of the companies Ilex Space and Optimal Structural Solutions.

Anacom also indicates that work is underway in parallel to establish space broadcast return centers.