According to the head of the Brazilian Space Agency, Carlus Moura, nine companies, four of which are Brazilian, are interested in launching from the Alcantara cosmodrome
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 1. /TASS/. Launches of spacecraft into low-Earth orbit from the Brazilian spaceport Alcantara in the north-east of the country can begin this year. This was stated on Sunday on the air of state television by the head of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), Carlus Moura.
"Alcantara is waiting for launch operators who want to launch from Brazil. Taking into account the advantages that the spaceport has and the interest that we are seeing, at the end of 2021 or from the beginning of 2022, companies will be able to work on Alcantara and produce orbital launches, " the official said. According to him, now nine companies, four of which are Brazilian, are interested in launching from this launch site.
"This will allow Brazil to realize the dream of the 80s and get a pass to the closed club of countries that can put satellites into orbit," Moura said. According to him, the launch pad is now used for suborbital launches. So far, no launches of its own satellites have been made from the Brazilian cosmodrome, the official recalled.
The resumption of full operation of the Alcantara cosmodrome in the north-east of the country is associated with the signing of a bilateral agreement on technology protection in March 2019 during the visit of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to Washington. The need for the document was argued by the fact that about 80% of all spacecraft are based on American technologies. As the Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications, Marcus Pontes, clarified earlier on Twitter, the conclusion of an agreement with the United States "in the near future will allow launching spacecraft not only from the United States, but also from other countries." At the end of November 2019, the document passed the necessary ratification procedure in accordance with Brazilian law.
On August 22, 2003, a VLS-1 rocket exploded at the cosmodrome three days before the scheduled launch date, killing 21 people. The reasons for the premature launch of the rocket engine installed on the launch pad have not been finally clarified.
