The Brazilian space program is the rocketry and space exploration programs conducted by Brazil from 1961, under GOCNAE (Group for the Organization of the National Commission on Space Activities) [1][2] until the creation of the Brazilian Space Agency in 1994. It has significant capabilities in launch vehicles, launch sites, and satellite manufacturing. It is based at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT). Upon its founding the program was under complete military control, which hindered its development, as other countries (such as the United States) blocked technological development due to concerns over missile proliferation. In 1994, the space program was transferred to civilian control under the Brazilian Space Agency.[3]
Since 1964, in an attempt to build a satellite launch vehicle (Veículo Lançador de Satélite--VLS), Brazil has developed a series of sounding (research) rockets, named Sonda I, II, III, and IV. The early Sondas were test-launched from Barreira do Inferno Launch Center, near the city of Natal in the Northeast Region. The Sonda IV rocket was tested successfully on April 28, 1989. Subsequent launches were made from the Alcântara Launch Center (Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara--CLA), in Maranhão, President José Sarney's home state. The CLA, officially dedicated on February 21, 1990, cost more than US$470 million to develop. It is the closest launch center to the equator in the world (2.3 degrees south of the equator), making it attractive for launches of geostationary satellites. Equatorial launches from Brazil may require 20% less fuel than launches from Kennedy Space Center, but Polar orbit launches would require more fuel.[4]
On February 9, 1993, the first satellite developed entirely in Brazil, the Data-Collecting Satellite (Satélite de Coleta de Dados—SCD-1), was launched. The SCD-1, sometimes referred to as the "green" satellite, is used by Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais) agencies. Both the SCD-1 The SCD-2, which was launched October 22, 1998, by a Pegasus rocket (a U.S. rocket), to collect environmental data.[5]
On July 6, 1988, Brazil signed an agreement with China that calls for the joint development (between the INPE and the Chinese Space Agency) of two earth-imaging satellites to be launched by a Long March Chinese rocket from the Shanxi Launching site. Known as the China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program (Satélite Sino-Brasileiro de Recursos Terrestres--CBERS), the high-resolution CBERS will collect data from the entire planet and will be used for agriculture, geology, hydrology, and the environment. The Sino-Brazilian agreement was inactive from 1988 through 1991 because of Brazil's lack of funds. In October 1991 and November 1994, Brazil and China signed an additional agreements for the construction of the satellites, worth US$150 million. The CBERS-1 was scheduled to be launched in May 1997.
Embratel, a formerly state-controlled communications company in charge of the Brazilian Satellite Communication System (Sistema Brasileiro de Comunicação por Satélites--SBTS), owns and operates a series of satellites that are positioned in geostationary orbit over the equator. Arianespace, a French space and defense partner of France's Aérospatiale group, launched the first two Brasilsat satellites in February 1985 and March 1986.
Until 1994, the military directed most of the space program through the Ministry of Aeronautics, which is in charge of the Department of Science and Aerospace Technology (CTA, for Ciência & Tecnologia Aeroespacial). Created in 1950, the CTA is involved in research and development for the aerospace programs of the FAB (Brazilian Air Force). In 1965 the FAB created the Space Activities Center (Instituto de Atividades Espaciais—IAE), one of several institutes within the CTA, to develop rockets. Since its creation, the IAE has tested more than 2,000 rockets.
In 1971, a joint civilian-military committee, the Brazilian Commission for Space Activities (Comissão Brasileira de Atividades Espaciais - Cobae), was established and placed under the CSN (National Security Council). Cobae was chaired by the head of the Armed Forces General Staff (Estado-Maior das Forças Armadas—EMFA) and was in charge of the Complete Brazilian Space Mission (Missão Espacial Completa Brasileira--MECB). The MECB was created in 1981 to coordinate launch vehicles, launch sites, and the manufacturing of satellites.
On the civilian side, the MECB is headed by the INPE. Established in 1971, the INPE replaced the National Commission for Space Activities (Comissão Nacional de Atividades Espaciais--CNAE). The INPE is subordinate to the Ministry of Science and Technology and roughly the CTA's counterpart. The INPE develops satellites and conducts space and meteorological research. It has also been developing engines using liquid propellants since 1988, but with mixed results.
Within Brazil's MECB, civilians have been primarily responsible for satellite production, and the armed forces have been in charge of developing launch pads and rockets. Despite this division of labor, the armed forces were the dominant actors in the MECB, at least through 1993. Military officers occupied most of the high-ranking positions in the MECB.
In an attempt to place the MECB more firmly in the hands of civilians, Brazil's President Itamar Franco signed a bill on February 10, 1994, creating the Brazilian Space Agency (Agência Espacial Brasileira--AEB). The AEB replaced Cobae, which acted merely as an advisory body and had no staff. The AEB, a semi-autonomous agency, has its own staff and responsibilities for policy implementation. It is led by a civilian, who is under the direct control of the president. The AEB oversees the MECB, but the Ministry of Aeronautics is still in charge of launch facilities and launch vehicles, and the INPE continues to direct the development of satellites. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether the AEB can effectively oversee the various ministries involved in the MECB.
The AEB was created in part to deflect criticism from the United States government, which viewed with alarm the involvement of Brazil's military in the MECB. The United States played a central role in the development of Brazil's MECB, beginning with its financial and technological support for the CTA and the INPE. In 1966 the United States supplied sounding rockets, which were launched subsequently by Brazil. Based on that technology, Brazil later developed larger boosters of its own.
The ties between Brazil and the United States were generally along functional lines within the two governments. The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) worked with the INPE, sharing data, helping to develop and implement scientific experiments, and training the institute's technicians and scientists. Likewise, the United States Air Force worked with Brazil's Ministry of Aeronautics and established a number of data-exchange agreements with the CTA that covered such matters as weather forecasting.
Brazil no longer relies as heavily on the United States for space technology. In 1981, it unveiled the MECB, an ambitious US$1 billion program with the aim of attaining self-sufficiency in space technology. At that time, Brazil committed itself to launching a series of four Brazilian-made satellites (two for weather forecasting and two for terrain photography) from Alcântara.
In further moves away from dependence on the United States, in the 1980s Brazil took steps to become self-sufficient in the production of ammonium perchlorate, an oxidizer for solid fuels. In addition to its indigenous research and development, Brazil now cooperates in its space program with Canada, the European Space Agency (ESA), Russia, France, and especially China. One joint satellite project with China is the China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite. Brazil is also seeking space cooperation with new partners, such as Israel.
In the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, many United States policy makers were concerned with Brazil's MECB because of the possibility of diverting space-launch technology to a ballistic missile program. Although by mid-1997 Brazil had not produced a ballistic missile, its military had given high priority to the development of several missile systems, including the Piranha missile (MAA-1). Brazil's space-launch program, coupled with its artillery rocket technology, suggests that the country has the potential to develop advanced missiles, including ballistic missiles.
From 1987 to 1994, the United States sought to stifle the development of Brazil's ballistic missile program through the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR—see Glossary), formed on April 16, 1987. Given Brazil's advanced nuclear program, the United States was especially concerned that a potential Brazilian ballistic missile could eventually serve as a vehicle for a nuclear warhead. The United States restrictions on space technology to Brazil stalled Brazil's VLS (Satellite Launch Vehicle) program and ballistic missile research and development, strained United States security relations with Brazil, and prompted Brazil to explore closer ties with China, Russia, and various countries in Europe and the Middle East (especially Iraq). In October 1995, for example, Brazil offered Russia the use of its Alcântara base, to launch rockets.
In February 1994, Brazil announced that it would comply with MTCR guidelines.[6] Such compliance would include export controls on Brazilian space and missile goods and technology. Brazil's accession to the MTCR coincided with various attempts by the United States to cooperate in space activities and seemed to signal a new era in space relations. Brazil's application for MTCR membership was accepted in October 1995. Thus, by the end of 1995 Brazil's space capabilities were improving, although they were modest by the standards of countries such as the United States and Russia. Some experts argued for the dismantlement of the VLS long-range rocket upon accession, in line with Argentina and South Africa discontinuing similar programs over weaponization concerns.[7]
Controversies
In 2011, Wikileaks revealed that the U.S. government has tried to stop the creation and production of rockets in Brazil, demanding that Brazilian partners, such as Ukraine, not transfer their technology in this area to the country. The restriction was registered in a telegram sent by the U.S.' Department of State to their embassy in Brasilia, January 2009, as follows:
"We do not support Brazil's native space launch vehicle program. ... We want to remind the Ukrainian authorities that the US does not oppose the establishment of a launching platform in Alcântara, as long as such activity does not result in the transfer of rocket technologies to Brazil."
The United States also does not allow the launch of US satellites (or those manufactured by other countries but containing US components) from the Alcantara Launch Center, "because of our longstanding policy of not encouraging Brazil's native rocket program", according to another confidential document released.[8]
A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to launch instruments from 48 to 145 km above the surface of the Earth, the altitude generally between weather balloons and satellites; the maximum altitude for balloons is about 40 km and the minimum for satellites is approximately 121 km. Certain sounding rockets have an apogee between 1,000 and 1,500 km, such as the Black Brant X and XII, which is the maximum apogee of their class. Sounding rockets often use military surplus rocket motors. NASA routinely flies the Terrier Mk 70 boosted Improved Orion, lifting 270–450-kg (600–1,000-pound) payloads into the exoatmospheric region between 97 and 201 km.
The Alcântara Space Center, former known as Alcântara Launch Center is a space center and launching facility of the Brazilian Space Agency in the city of Alcântara, located on Brazil's northern Atlantic coast, in the state of Maranhão. It is operated by the Brazilian Air Force. The CEA is the closest launching base to the equator. This gives the launch site a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites, an attribute shared by the Guiana Space Centre.
The Brazilian Space Agency is the civilian authority in Brazil responsible for the country's space program. It operates a spaceport at Alcântara, and a rocket launch site at Barreira do Inferno. It is the largest and most prominent space agency in Latin America.
The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a multilateral export control regime. It is an informal political understanding among 35 member states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology. The regime was formed in 1987 by the G-7 industrialized countries. The MTCR seeks to limit the risks of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by controlling exports of goods and technologies that could make a contribution to delivery systems for such weapons. In this context, the MTCR places particular focus on rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering a payload of at least 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) to a range of at least 300 kilometres (190 mi) and on equipment, software, and technology for such systems.
Satélite de Coleta de Dados is a series of satellites developed in Brazil.
This is a timeline of first orbital launches by country. While a number of countries, incl. Canada, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Argentina, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, the Philippines, Egypt, Spain, Mexico, Thailand and Chile, have built or launched satellites, as of 2022, eleven countries, incl. the United States, Japan, China, India, Iran, Israel, France, the United Kingdom and South Korea, have had the capability to send objects into orbit with their own launch vehicles. Russia and Ukraine inherited the capability of the space launchers and satellites from the Soviet Union, following its dissolution in 1991. Russia launches its rockets from its own and foreign (Kazakh) spaceports.
The VLS-1 was the Brazilian Space Agency's main satellite launch vehicle. The launch vehicle would have been capable of launching satellites into orbit. The launch site was located at the Alcântara Launch Center due to its proximity to the equator.
The China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program (CBERS) is a technological cooperation program between Brazil and China which develops and operates Earth observation satellites.
The SACI-2 was a Brazilian experimental satellite, designed and built by the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE). It was launched on 11 December 1999 from the INPE base in Alcântara, Maranhão, by the Brazilian VLS-1 V02 rocket. Due to failure of its second stage, the rocket veered off course and had to be destroyed 3 minutes and 20 seconds after launch.
The National Institute for Space Research is a research unit of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations, the main goals of which are fostering scientific research and technological applications and qualifying personnel in the fields of space and atmospheric sciences, space engineering, and space technology. While INPE is the civilian research center for aerospace activities, the Brazilian Air Force's General Command for Aerospace Technology is the military arm. INPE is located in the city of São José dos Campos, São Paulo.
The Amazônia-1 or SSR-1, is the first Earth observation satellite developed by Brazil, helped by Argentina's INVAP, who provided the main computer, attitude controls and sensors, and the training of Brazilian engineers, and launched at 04:54:00 UTC on 28 February 2021.
The VLM is a proposed three-stage satellite launcher being developed by the Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology in collaboration with Germany. The project originated in 2008 as a simplified version of the VLS-1 rocket, using only the core stages. The first launch is currently planned for no earlier than 2027.
China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 3 (CBERS-3), also known as Ziyuan I-03 or Ziyuan 1D, was a remote sensing satellite intended for operation as part of the China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program between the Chinese Center for Resources Satellite Data and Application and Brazilian National Institute for Space Research. The fourth CBERS satellite to fly, it was lost in a launch failure in December 2013.
The SACI-1 was a microsatellite of scientific applications, designed, developed, constructed and tested by Brazilian technicians, engineers and scientists working in INPE. SACI-1 was launched on October 14, 1999, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China, by means of a Long March 4B rocket, as a secondary payload at the CBERS-1 launch.
Tancredo-1 was a Brazilian picosatellite. It was a TubeSat which was developed by the students from the school Tancredo Almeida Neves, in Ubatuba (SP), with support for the picosat platform made by Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), adapting and integration to launch provided by TuPOD from Italian company GAUSS Srl and by Agência Espacial Brasileira (AEB).
The PSLV-C51 is the 53rd mission of the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) program. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C51 was launched at 04:54 (UTC) / 10:24 (IST) on 28 February 2021 with the main payload from Brazil, INPE's Amazônia-1 and 18 other ride-sharing small satellites.
The Institute of Aeronautics and Space is a military research organization of the Brazilian Air Force's Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), founded on 1 January 1954.
VLS-1 V01 was the first launch of the VLS-1 rocket that took place on November 2, 1997, from the Alcântara Launch Center with the goal of putting the SCD-2A satellite into orbit. The launch was unsuccessful, with the rocket being remotely destroyed due to deviation from its trajectory.
VLS-1 V02 was the second flight of the VLS-1 rocket on December 11, 1999 from the Alcântara Launch Center, with the objective of placing the SACI-2 microsatellite in LEO. The rocket was remotely destroyed 3 minutes after launch.
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