According to General João Cartaxo Alves, chief of the armed forces general staff, the satellite factory at the Alverca Space Hub should open in October or November, building satellites of more than 600 kg and hiring up to 50 engineers. The Atlantic Constellation with Spain already has two radar satellites in orbit with two more due this year, and the Santa Maria launch base in the Azores gets about €15 million. Our take: building, not only buying, satellites keeps the skills at home.
600+ kgsatellites to be built
50new engineers
~€15Mfor the Santa Maria base