According to José Manuel Bolieiro, the headquarters of the Portuguese Space Agency will be located in the former house of the director of Santa Maria airport, in Vila do Porto, which is undergoing an intervention at an estimated cost of more than one million euros.

“And I have a great pleasure, accompanied by the president of the Portuguese Space Agency, and also by the Secretary of State [for Defence], who is here, as well as the Regional Secretary for Infrastructure, to announce that this national headquarters of the Portuguese Space Agency will be inaugurated on 7 November”, said the leader of the Azorean executive (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM), who visited the space as part of a two-day statutory visit to the island of Santa Maria.

Bolieiro added that the activities dedicated to space transport that this entity will carry out will be developed on that island in the Azores archipelago.

“We are providing content for the future, for modernity, for excellence and, above all, for the prestige and geostrategic dimension of Santa Maria and the space ecosystem that we are setting up here. I am, therefore, proud, happy and confident and I want to convey this to the people of Santa Maria, the entire Azores and Portugal”, he declared.

He added that it is the country “that is gaining prestige and reshaping itself within the framework of its European integration, as a Member State of the European Union, and even its global and worldwide geostrategic relevance, with this Atlantic commitment to space activities”.

The head of the Azorean government also revealed that the second half of 2024 will be “very productive in terms of several achievements or preparations for achievements”, admitting that Santa Maria could have, by the end of the year, “a space return flight”.

"In fact, we defined these strategies, we created and conformed, in agreement, obviously, with the Government of the Republic, the appropriate legislation and the convergent definition of the strategies - regional, national and community - for the space policy of the European Union", he concluded.

In turn, the president of the Portuguese Space Agency, Ricardo Conde, said that there are prospects for investment in Santa Maria, such as the creation of a space technology centre "which will require an investment of over 12 million euros": "We are about to start it, I cannot give any more details for now".

"There is a new project that we are going to start at the Santa Maria teleport, which requires an investment of 4 million euros", he said, referring to it being part of the so-called Santa Maria space ecosystem.

Ricardo Conde also told journalists that "conditions are being prepared to receive" the Space Rider, Europe's first reusable space vehicle.

The future headquarters building of the Portuguese Space Agency will house, among other activities related to with the safety conditions of the access and return operations to the space.