Portugal To Invest 1.5 Mln Euros To Monitor Space Junk

Portugal plans to invest 1.5 million euros (1.7 million U.S. dollars) in the setup of the Optical Observatory of Pico do Areeiro on the island of Madeira as part of a European project to monitor space junk, Defense Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho said on Wednesday

LISBON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jul, 2019 ) :Portugal plans to invest 1.5 million Euros (1.7 million U.S. Dollars) in the setup of the Optical Observatory of Pico do Areeiro on the island of Madeira as part of a European project to monitor space junk, Defense Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho said on Wednesday.

"We expect to invest about 1.5 million euros in 2019 and 2020," he said, after signing a cooperation agreement with the regional government of Madeira under the Space Surveillance and Tracking Project, a European consortium that aims to monitor space waste through continuous observation from strategic points and permanent treatment of observation data.

"Space waste represents a potential danger to our populations and, therefore needs to be monitored, the objects circulating in space need to be characterized and identified and their trajectory needs to be assessed," Cravinho said, quoted by Portuguese Lusa news Agency.

He said that work on the Optical Observatory, at one of the highest points of the island (1,818 meters), should start in 2020.

He highlighted the importance of the project as a promotion of technological knowledge for the region and an economic booster.