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Respect. (from the lat. respectu) n. 1. respect; 2. consideration; high regard; 3. deference; compliance; veneration; 4. honour; worship; 5. relation; refererence...
We believe that everyone should be respected for their work, for their attitudes, opinions and options.
Rigor. (from the lat. rigore) n. 1. harshness; strength; 2.fig., severity; punctuality; accuracy.
There is no "more or less levelled", "more or less upright”, "more or less clean" or "more or less safe", but rather “levelled”, "upright”, "clean” and “safe". The rigour is reflected in our procedures, in time and in the rules to follow. In the light of moral and principles, being severe means being rigorous.
Passion. (from the lat. passione) n. 1. intense and usually violent feeling (affection, joy, hate, etc.) which hinders the exercise of impartial logic; 2. derived from a feeling; 3. great predilection; 4. partiality; 5. great grief; immense suffering...
Under the sign of passion – a text of the Portuguese poet Regina Guimarães – is our icon. Passion is to reveal great enthusiasm for something, favourable encouragement or opposite to something.
It is the sensibility transmitted by an architect or engineer through work.
Passion is the dedication to a project. Passion is a state of warm soul.
Loyalty. (from the lat. legalitate) n. the quality of being loyal; fidelity; sincerity.
Respect for the principles and rules that guide the honour and probity. Faithfulness to commitments and agreements undertaken, staunch character.
To remain loyal to the business partners because we depend on them and they depend on us.
Being trustworthy for being loyal.
Solidarity. (from the lat. solidare) n. 1. the quality of being solidary; 2. reciprocal responsibility among the members of a group, namely social, professional, etc.; 3. sense of sharing another’s suffering.
Being solidary is being a friend, offering our hand with genuine generosity and bringing joy and human warmth to those who, somehow, are marginalized. Being solidary is being more human. A solidary company is recognized as a fair and non-selfish company. A solidary company is a preferred choice in business. It is a more competitive company. Volunteering is a vehicle to solidarity. It is modern, fair, cultured, friend, it is a noble gesture of moral elevation.
Courage. (from the lat. coraticum) n. 1. bravery facing danger; intrepidity; to have audacity; 2. moral force before a suffering or setback; 3. [fig.] to input energy when performing a difficult task; perseverance...
Courage is essential in our life. Courage to face less pleasant situations when complex issues come up, not expecting random resolutions.
It is a value that we must highlight as opposed to the fearful, cowardly and laziness.
The courage to react to criticism not with an attitude of demotivation or sadness, but rather to search for the means and the action to overcome its own reason. This kind of courage, which is also an intellectual courage, is highly recommended.
Ambition. (from the lat. ambitione) n. 1. vehement desire of wealth, honours or glories; 2. expectation about the future; aspiration; 3. lust; greed…
Vehement desire to achieve a particular goal. Ambition not to resign ourselves. Ambition to take the best potential from ourselves. Ambition to deserve ourselves. Ambition to be athletes in our top-level competitive jobs. Ambition to beat our brands. Ambition to get the best deals with the maximum value, due to the high levels of proficiency and efficiency.
Esthetics. ESTHETICS (from the Greek aisthetiké, "sensitive") n.f. 1. Philosophy branch of philosophy that studies the beauty and nature of artistic phenomena; 2. author's own style, time, etc.; 3. harmony of shapes and colors, beauty; 4. set of techniques and treatments that aim to beautify the body.
We decided to build the company's economic foundations under a cultured, cosmopolitan and cool image. Because it is a charming state of being. Good taste because we are sustainable and we respect the planet. Good taste because we are sensitive. Good taste just because.
Responsibility. (from the lat respondere) n. the trait of being answerable to someone for something or being responsible for one's conduct; a form of trustworthiness.
We must be certain that, before a choice, we chose what is best for both of us and not just the best for each one. Each employee is responsible for his negotiated activity and co-responsible if the co-worker does not fulfil his own task, thus preventing the common goal. A team is a set of individuals - is a whole. In the business game, as in social or family contexts, everyone must comply with their own relative position and we shall not permit that one of ours fails to be in our team.
Expresso
The Aeros-MH1 satellite has been guarding the Portuguese coast for more than half a year. Built entirely in Portugal, the little guardian “has considerable changed the sector” and boosted the development of this area in the country – with the launch of several Portuguese satellites since it was launched into space
Almost the size of an A4 sheet of paper, only narrower at just 10 centimetres wide, it weighs 4.5 kg and has been circling the Earth for nine months. The Aeros MH-1 nanosatellite was developed entirely in Portugal and marked the country’s return to space 30 years after the launch of its first satellite, PoSat. The AEROS Constellation project, which sent the Aeros satellite into space, wants to establish a veritable constellation of these devices to study the Atlantic Ocean and, in particular, the Portuguese coast.
The idea first arose in 2007 when Hélder Silva, director of aerospace flight software at Thales Edisoft Portugal and leader of the AEROS project, expressed his desire to create an entirely Portuguese satellite with a colleague after travelling to Germany for a meeting about the European Union’s Galileo navigation system. It took more than 10 years for the idea to finally take shape in 2020, after obtaining European funding through Portugal 2020 and forming a consortium made up of various academic bodies and companies which are specialists in the area.
Over the years, the company has been involved in the production of other satellites, which has enabled it to gather information and gain the knowledge needed to start the project. “Aeros was the combination of all these experiences,” stated Hélder Silva.
“There was no [satellite] which was software-defined ready, which is another payload [instrument dedicated to producing mission data] with another camera. And that enabled us, for example, to win the 2024 Mission of the Year award [at the 2024 Small Satellites Conference]. As such, there is no other equal to ours, at least not that we know of,” he explained.
During the pandemic, they began to create the satellite that would be named Aeros-MH1, in honour of the former Minister of Science, Manuel Heitor, who was considered by the consortium to have been the driving force behind the project. The changes brought about by Covid-19 raised certain challenges due to the scarcity of parts. “There were no parts and the ones there were had all gone up in price. As such, the prices that were being charged at the time had nothing to do with the existing prices when we made the proposal. We had to do some financial gymnastics to buy the parts to make our satellite and then there were no deliveries or they took too long,” the project leader recalled.
Four months before the satellite’s launch, a part broke during testing. “We were working against the clock, because we already had the launch planned“, explained Hélder Silva, who added that the team worked “day and night” to repair the equipment and send it into space on the planned date.
Aeros é um observador oceânico, lançado de uma altura de mais de 500 quilômetros
Desde o início foi decidido que o satélite teria um propósito de investigação e não comercial, explorando a costa portuguesa e o Oceano Atlântico a partir do espaço, o que proporcionaria independência científica através de ter o seu próprio satélite de observação. "É extremamente vantajoso e barato", considerando os recursos terrestres e marinhos que seriam necessários para realizar a mesma análise do oceano.
Em uma única fotografia é possível ver vários quilômetros da superfície do mar. Usando um navio, por exemplo, o raio de ação é muito menor, enquanto o satélite, a uma altitude de 510 quilômetros, um pouco acima da Estação Espacial Internacional, permite monitorar isso em uma escala muito maior.
O Aeros está atualmente a uma altura de 450 quilómetros, e com o passar do tempo vai descer, mas Hélder Silva salienta que "ainda há algum tempo para operações de satélite". O fim desta missão será determinado por isso, mas poderá durar entre seis meses e três anos. Por enquanto, "está vivo, está enviando informações. Tem seus problemas, que são desafios para nós: por exemplo, uma das seções do painel solar na frente nunca forneceu energia, então estamos tentando superar isso."
Devido à falta de energia, ainda não foi possível ligar a câmera hiperespectral, o que permitiria observar a cor do oceano ou detectar frentes oceânicas. Mesmo assim, eles já conseguiram ligar o Software Defined Radio que lhes permite localizar as "etiquetas" colocadas em tubarões ou tartarugas e, assim, monitorar seus movimentos. Os dados recolhidos são enviados para o teleporto, operado pela Thales Edisoft Portugal, em Santa Maria, Açores.
É possível obter informações do satélite quatro vezes por dia durante dez minutos, quando ele aparece no horizonte, já que ele se move a uma velocidade de sete quilômetros por segundo. "É durante esses dez minutos que temos que mostrar nosso valor", afirmou.
Este nanossatélite, lançado pela SpaceX em março de 2024, é o precursor de uma futura constelação de mais satélites. "A ideia é tornar os outros semelhantes com algumas mudanças. No momento, depois do que aprendemos, faríamos melhorias", explicou, acrescentando que o desafio é tentar resolver problemas quando o satélite estiver no espaço.
Depois de vários meses viajando pelo espaço, o satélite ganhou reconhecimento e abriu portas. "Lembro-me de estar na Thales Alenia Space España e o presidente da Thales Alenia Space, que era nosso diretor na época, disse 'olha, tem alguém aqui que pode falar sobre o nosso satélite'", lembrou Hélder Silva. Pela primeira vez, o engenheiro aeroespacial também sentiu que estava conversando "na mesma língua" com pesquisadores da Agência Espacial Europeia, tendo passado de conceitos abstratos para o conhecimento sobre problemas concretos. "Estamos agora nos estágios preliminares de estudo de uma missão à Lua, onde levaremos toda a nossa experiência e lições aprendidas com a Aeros", acrescentou.
O lançamento do Aeros abriu também caminho para o lançamento de mais satélites portugueses de vários tipos. "Muitos [satélites] vão ser lançados e depois temos todos aqueles estudantes universitários que estão a fazer os seus projetos e que estão a bater à nossa porta para que os ajudemos, por isso mudou muito o setor", disse, admitindo ainda que seria possível replicar o projeto noutras costas europeias.
A ajuda essencial dos fundos europeus
O projeto Aeros Constellation consistiu num consórcio constituído pelo CEiiA, +Atlantic CoLAB, Spin.Works, dstelecom, Air Centre, IMAR, as universidades do Minho, Algarve, Porto e Instituto Superior Técnico, bem como uma parceria com o Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Cada entidade contribuiu com as informações necessárias para construir o satélite de acordo com sua área de conhecimento especializada.
O pedido de financiamento foi feito em 2018, quando os requisitos da missão foram especificados e três possíveis projetos de satélite foram apresentados. O investimento total no projeto rondou os 2,78 milhões de euros, cofinanciados com 1,88 milhões de euros do Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), através dos programas Compete 2020, Azores 2020, CrescAlgarve 2020 e Lisboa 2020. "Sem os fundos não haveria Aeros", explicou Hélder Silva, que foi o "catalisador" que tornou esta aventura possível.