INNOSPACE, a South Korean satellite launch service company, has signed a launch site use agreement with the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium (ASC), the operator of Portugal’s spaceport.
Through this agreement, INNOSPACE has secured priority and long-term access to the Malbusca Launch Centre, located on Santa Maria Island in the Azores, Portugal, for a five-year period starting this year.
The company plans to gradually establish key launch infrastructure required for initial operations, including launch pads, operations and control systems, and testing facilities, with the goal of conducting its first commercial launch in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The Malbusca Launch Centre is an island-based launch site located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, offering a high degree of independence in airspace and maritime operations.
Its open launch trajectories over the Atlantic Ocean provide geographical advantages that allow flexible mission planning for various orbital insertion scenarios. INNOSPACE expects this to enable more efficient design of launch scenarios tailored to specific customer mission requirements.
ASC is a spaceport operating consortium jointly participated in by OPTIMAL Structural Solutions, which specialises in the design and maintenance of metal and composite structures, and ilex Space, which oversees commercial and operational strategy.
The consortium operates the spaceport with official approvals and institutional support from the Regional Government of Azores, the Portuguese Government and the Portuguese Space Agency.
By partnering with a launch site backed by strong regulatory stability and professional operational capabilities, INNOSPACE aims to mitigate licensing and operational risks while enhancing schedule reliability and competitiveness in commercial launch services.
“Partnering with INNOSPACE as its European launch base partner is deeply meaningful for us,” said Bruno Carvalho, CEO of ASC. “This collaboration aligns closely with the consortium’s vision of pursuing an open and accessible spaceport, and we will spare no effort in providing full support to ensure that INNOSPACE can carry out stable and efficient launch operations.”
He added: “The Malbusca Spaceport is a strategic site with significant growth potential, and we are confident that INNOSPACE will take a leading role in achieving orbital access from Santa Maria. We are sincerely grateful for the trust placed in us through this partnership.
Ricardo Conde, President of the Portuguese Space Agency, said: “INNOSPACE’s decision to launch from Santa Maria is a strong signal of international confidence in Portugal’s space ambitions. This agreement helps accelerate the path towards safe, sustainable and regulated orbital launch services from the Azores, creating opportunities for high-value activity in the Region.”
Soojong Kim, Founder and CEO of INNOSPACE, said: “This agreement marks an important milestone for INNOSPACE as it secures its first launch base in Europe, following Brazil and Australia, thereby extending our global launch network to the European region.
“Through a launch site network connecting South America, Oceania and Europe, we have established a global launch operations system that enables flexible selection of launch locations and orbits tailored to each customer’s mission requirements.”
“By leveraging the geographical and operational advantages of an island-based spaceport, we have secured greater independence in managing launch airspace and maritime zones, while significantly enhancing our business scalability to support customized customer missions.
“As this agreement represents a strategic partnership that goes beyond simple site usage – encompassing collaboration from the launch infrastructure development phase - we will proceed without delay toward our target of a commercial launch in the fourth quarter of 2026, delivering highly reliable launch services to customers worldwide.”
