Open Cosmos expands into Porto with plans to double Portuguese workforce
Open Cosmos is expanding its presence in Portugal with the opening of a new office in Porto, as the British space company plans to double its Portuguese workforce to around 100 employees. The company is currently recruiting for 50 positions.
The new Porto office, located at the Hipercentro Areosa business
park, marks the latest step in Open Cosmos’ expansion in
Portugal, where the company has been operating since 2022.
"We want to double the number of employees to around 100,”
Tiago Rebelo, Chief Revenue Officer at Open Cosmos, told ECO/eRadar. The pace
of recruitment, he added, will depend on the number of projects the company
secures.
"The more projects we are able to win, the more people we can hire,” he
said.
The 50 planned hires will strengthen Open Cosmos’
Portuguese operations across its two locations: Coimbra, where
the company has a presence at the Instituto Pedro Nunes, and the newly
opened Porto office.
The company is seeking a range of technical and business profiles,
including systems engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), Assembly,
Integration and Test (AIT), satellite design, business development and mission
concept development.
The expansion in Porto comes as Open Cosmos continues to build its industrial
and technological presence in Portugal. The company is preparing for satellite
production in Coimbra and has set out wider ambitions for the country,
including the launch of three Portuguese satellites and an investment
of up to €50 million over three years
Open Cosmos Atlantic, the company’s Portuguese subsidiary, was also selected
by the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead the study and subsequent
development of a European Earth observation satellite for civil and defence
applications.
The initial contract is worth €750,000 and could develop
into a mission valued at €25 million should the ESA proceed to
the implementation phase later this year. If approved, it would be the first
ESA mission led by a Portuguese entity and operated from Portugal,
with most of the supply chain expected to be sourced domestically. The
satellite is scheduled for launch by the end of 2028.
Porto strengthens its position as one of Portugal’s leading centres for technology, engineering and digital talent, while supporting Open Cosmos’ broader ambition to scale its operations and develop new space capabilities and projects in Portugal.
