The AEROS Constellation (AEROS) project aimed to develop a nano-satellite platform as a precursor to a future constellation to leverage scientific and economic synergies between space and the ocean. The project is made up of a consortium of Portuguese companies, research institutes and universities, which in addition to the University of Minho and MIT involves Edisoft as the consortium leader, DSTelecom, CEiiA, SpinWorks, the University of Porto, the University of Algarve, the Instituto Superior Técnico, the Instituto do Mar, Colab +Atlântico, the AIR Centre and MIT Portugal.

It will leverage the development of Portuguese technologies and competences to monitor and valorise the ocean, combining national and international know-how to build the AEROS nano-satellite constellation.

The University of Minho was mainly involved in the development of new systems based on intelligent materials, the development of spectral data acquisition and processing for ocean monitoring, and the development and application to use cases.

Scheduled for launch on 4 March, the first satellite in this constellation is the result of the work of the AEROS Constellation project team (045911), co-financed by FEDER – the European Regional Development Fund, through the Competitiveness and Internationalisation Operational Programme – COMPETE 2020, the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme – NORTE 2020 and the Foundation for Science and Technology – FCT within the scope of MIT Portugal.

Find out more about this project in this Expresso article by Hugo Séneca.