The conference took place between 03 and 08 August in the city of Logan, in the state of Utah.

The Aeros MH-1 nanosatellite was sent into space on 04 March and established communications with Earth on 19 March via the Santa Maria teleport in the Azores, operated by the company Thales Edisoft Portugal.

The first images captured by the device were released on 02 July.

Positioned 510 kilometres above sea level, slightly above the International Space Station, the astronauts' "home" and laboratory, the nanosatellite, which weighs 4.5 kilos, will observe the Atlantic Ocean in particular for three years.

The MH-1, named after the former Minister of Science Manuel Heitor, considered by the nanosatellite consortium to be the driving force behind the project, was the second Portuguese satellite to be sent into space, after PoSAT-1, a 50-kilo microsatellite that entered Earth's orbit in September 1993 but was deactivated after a decade.

The national consortium for Aeros MH-1 includes several Portuguese companies and academic institutions, which have been joined by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States through the MIT-Portugal cooperation programme.

The universities of Algarve, Porto and Minho, the Instituto Superior Técnico and Imar - Instituto do Mar, among others, provide scientific support for the mission.

The nanosatellite, which began to be worked on in 2020, represented an investment of 2.78 million euros, co-financed with 1.88 million euros by the Feder – European Regional Development Fund.

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