The fact that the Portuguese space industry contributed €1.2 billion to GDP between 2019 and 2024 and generated €2.4 billion for the economy as a whole clearly belongs to the second category. For too long, talking about space in Portugal seemed like a distant conversation, almost exclusively scientific or institutional. Today it is no longer so.

I have been writing about this sector and about several of the investments that are beginning to arrive in the country because I believe that we are facing an industry that will have an increasing weight in our economy. The figures now presented help to demonstrate this. Between 2019 and 2024, the sector supported, on average, around 4,500 jobs per year and generated average annual tax revenues of €290 million. More than 150 entities are already part of this ecosystem, including more than 80 active companies, with a particularly relevant presence in Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto.

But what interests me most about these numbers is the multiplier effect. For every euro directly added to GDP by space activities, another 1.17 euros were generated through supply chains and the consumption of households linked to this industry. This is precisely how a new economy is built. Not through a single company or a single large investment, but through the gradual creation of an ecosystem where technology, universities, research, suppliers, talent and capital begin to work together.

I recently wrote about the creation of ICEYE Portugal and about the new centre of excellence in Lisbon dedicated to software development, systems integration and artificial intelligence. But this is only one of the signs. National and international companies are starting to look to Portugal for its Atlantic location, the Azores, the talent in aerospace engineering, the legal framework and the growing technological capacity. Public investment in the sector went from 55 million euros in 2018 to 135 million in 2024, while Portuguese companies won more than 110 million euros in industrial contracts from the European Space Agency between 2019 and 2025.

Of course, there are still weaknesses. Portugal needs to better retain its talent, attract larger industrial operators, facilitate access to private capital and ensure continuity in public policies. Space is an industry that requires a long-term vision and is unlikely to grow at the necessary pace if it depends only on political cycles or public funding.

Still, the signs are clear. Portugal is no longer just talking about the space economy. It is starting to build it.

And perhaps this is the most important part of these numbers. In a country where we so often discuss what we lack, there is a new industry growing before our eyes, creating qualified employment, technology, exports and knowledge.

Space can seem infinite. But the economic opportunity for Portugal is very concrete.