Brazilian Space Agency

Brazilian Space Agency Agência Espacial Brasileira
Established	10 February 1994[1] (formerly the Brazilian space program, 1961-1993)
Command structure	Ministry of Science and Technology
Operational center	Alcântara Launch Center
President	Carlos Ganem
Annual budget	$343 million (2009)[2]
Website	www.aeb.gov.br

The Brazilian Space Agency (Portuguese: Agência Espacial Brasileira; AEB) is the civilian authority in Brazil responsible for the country's burgeoning space program. It operates a spaceport at Alcântara and a rocket launch site at Barreira do Inferno. The agency has given Brazil a leading role in space in the Latin American region, and has made Brazil a valuable and dependable partner for cooperation in the International Space Station.^[3]

The Brazilian Space Agency is the heir to Brazil's space program. Previously, the program had been under the control of the Brazilian military; the program was transferred into civilian control on 10 February 1994.

It suffered a major setback in 2003, when a rocket explosion killed 21 technicians. Brazil successfully launched its first rocket into space on 23 October 2004 from the Alcântara Launch Center; it was a VSB-30 launched on a sub-orbital mission. Several other successful launches have followed.^[4][5][6]

On March 30, 2006, AEB astronaut Marcos Pontes became the first Brazilian and the first native Portuguese-speaking person to go into space, where he stayed on the International Space Station for a week. During his trip, Pontes carried out eight experiments selected by the Brazilian Space Agency. He landed in Kazakhstan on April 8, 2006, with the crew of Expedition 12.^[7]

The Brazilian Space Agency has pursued a policy of joint technological development with more advanced space programs. Initially it relied heavily on the United States, but after meeting difficulties from them on technological transfers, Brazil has branched out, working with other nations, including China, Russia and Ukraine.

Launch sites

Alcântara Launch Center

The Alcântara Lauch Center (Portuguese: Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara; CLA) is the main launch site and operational center of the Brazilian Space Agency.^[8] It is located in the peninsula of Alcântara, in the state of Maranhão.^[9] This region presents some excellent requirements, such as low population density, excellent security conditions and easiness of aerial and maritime access.^[9] The most important factor is its closeness to the Equator - Alcântara is the closest launching base to the Equator.^[8] This gives the launch site a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites.^[8]

Barreira do Inferno Launch Center

The Barreira do Inferno Launch Center (Portuguese: Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno; CLBI) is a rocket launch base of the Brazilian Space Agency.^[10] It is located in the city of Parnamirim, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. It is primarily used to launch sounding rockets and to support the Alcântara Launch Center.^[11]

Launch vehicles

VLS

The VLS - Satellite Launch Vehicle (Portuguese: Veículo Lançador de Satélites) is the Brazilian Space Agency's main satellite launch vehicle.^[12] It is a four-stage rocket comprised of a core and four strap-on motors.^[13] The vehicle's first stage has four solid fuel motors derived from the Sonda sounding rockets.^[13] It is intended to deploy 100 to 380 kg satellites into 200 to 1200 km orbit, or to deploy 75 to 275 kg payloads into 200 to 1000 km polar orbit.^[13] The first 3 prototypes for the vehicle failed to launch, with the 3rd exploding on the launch pad in 2003 resulting in the deaths of 21 AEB personnel. A new version of the launcher is under design with Russian assistance. ^[13]

Southern Cross program

The Brazilian Space Agency is currently developing a new family of launch vehicles in cooperation with the Russian Federal Space Agency.^[14][15][16] The five rockets of the Southern Cross family will be based on Russia's Angara vehicle and liquid-propellant engines.^[14]

The program was named "Southern Cross" in reference to the Crux constellation, present on the flag of Brazil and composed of five stars.^[17] Hence the names of the future launch vehicles^[17]:

• Alpha (light-weight rocket)
• Beta (light-weight rocket)
• Gamma (light-weight rocket)
• Delta (medium-weight rocket)
• Epsilon (heavy-weight rocket)

The first stage of the Gamma, Delta and Epsilon rockets will be powered by a unit based on the RD-191 engine.^[14] The second stage, which will be the same for all the Southern Cross rockets, will be driven by an engine based on the Molniya rocket.^[14] The third stage will be a solid-propellant booster based on an upgraded version of the VLS-1.^[14]

The Gamma launcher is part of the light-weight class, but using the near-equatorial position of the Alcântara Launch Center, it can place almost 1 ton of payload into a GSO. ^[14]

The Delta launcher is a medium-weight rocket and differs from the Gamma by having four solid-propellant boosters attached to the first stage.^[14] Its payload deliverable to a GSO is 1.7 tons.^[14]

The Epsilon launcher is a heavy-weight rocket with three identical units attached to the first stage.^[14] It can place a four-ton spacecraft in orbit, if it is launched from Alcântara.^[14]

The Brazilian government is planning to allocate $1 billion dollars for the project in the next six years.^[14] It has already set aside $650 million dollars for the construction of five launch pads able to handle up to 12 launches per year.^[14] The program is scheduled to be completed by 2022.^[17]

International cooperation

Ukraine

On October 21, 2003, the Brazilian Space Agency and the National Space Agency of Ukraine established a cooperation agreement creating a joint venture space enterprise called Alcântara Cyclone Space.^[18] The new company will focus on launching satellites from the Alcântara Launch Center using the Tsyklon-4 rocket.^[19] The company will invest $160 million dollars in infrastructure for the new launch pad that will be constructed at the Alcântara Launch Center.

In March 2009, the Brazilian Government increased its financial capital by US$ 50 million.^[20]

References

See also

• Federal institutions of Brazil
• List of space disasters
• National Institute for Space Research (INPE)
• Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology (CTA)
• Aeronautics Technological Institute (ITA)
• Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian astronaut

External links

• Official site in Portuguese
• An article on the agency

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