| Agencia Espacial Mexicana (Mexican Space Agency) | |
|---|---|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | July 31, 2010 |
| Jurisdiction | Secretariat of Communications and Transportation |
| Headquarters | Legal Address Mexico City |
| Agency executive | Dionisio Pérez Jacome, President of the Board of Governors |
The Mexican Space Agency (in Spanish: Agencia Espacial Mexicana ) is a space agency, approved by the Mexican Chamber of Deputies (208 voted yes, 2 no and 4 absentees) on April 20, 2010[1] after receiving a significant vote of confidence on April 26, 2006.[2] The law that creates the agency was published by the President Felipe Calderón on July 30, 2010 and as the law itself states, it started to rule on July 31, 2010.[3]
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While the study of astronomy in the region dates back to pre-colombian times and had a boom in the colonial period, the direct antecedent of the agency is the Comisión Nacional del Espacio Exterior (CONEE) (English: National Commission of Outer Space), an office created by Presidential decree on August 31, 1962, and attached to the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation which conducted experiments in rocketry, telecommunications and atmospheric studies from 1962 to 1976.[4] After its dissolution by Presidential decree, on November 3, 1977, some activities were financed by the extinct Instituto Mexicano de Comunicaciones (Mexican Communications Institute) (transformed into the current Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones), by Satmex - then a state-owned company - and some higher education institutions, such as the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, the Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada and the CINVESTAV.[4] Subsequent attempts to create a national space office or agency were conducted at least a couple of times. In 1995, the Sociedad Espacial Mexicana, founded by Jesús Raygoza, presented a project to President Ernesto Zedillo and to the Energy Commission of the Congress of the Union. And in 1998, a group from the Mexican academic community participated in fact-finding sessions before the Science and Technology Commission of the Congress.
The bill was originally conceived by José Luis Garcia and Fernando de la Peña. It was reviewed by Gianfranco Bissiacchi, José Hernández, Rodolfo Neri Vela among others. It was then submitted by the moral leader of the teachers in the state of Hidalgo,[5] the former PRI deputy member of the SNTE, Moisés Jiménez Sánchez.
The developers presented a bill to congress whose main purpose was, according to Fernando de la Peña, promote private investment and facilitate the creation of multinational aerospace companies in the State of Hidalgo.[6] The bill required the Agency to become a self-financing entity and not merely focus on research activities. After being presented in the Chamber of Deputies on October 25, 2005 and being lobbied by the government of the state of Hidalgo, the initiative received the votes of a majority of the plenary on April 25, 2006.
The protests and concerns of some sectors that were unhappy with not being considered before being presented to the Chamber of Deputies to be voted. For this reason, the PRD Senator and president of the Committee on Science and Technology of the Senate, Francisco Javier Castellón Fonseca, requested the organization of forums to identify any concerns and disagreements. Afterwards the 'Grupo Promotor de la Agencia Espacial Mexicana' was created and coordinated by the Academia de Ingeniería (English: Engineering Academy) made a new initiative of law for the Mexican Congress. To this proposal some comments where included, (particularly from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, and the Consejo Consultivo de Ciencias de la Presidencia de la República (Science Advisory Board of the Presidency of the Republic),[7]. The new initiative ended up being adopted by the Senate unanimously on November 4, 2008 and returned to the chamber of origin to be turned over to the committees on science and technology, legislative studies second, and budget and public accounts to undergo a second analysis and ballot.[8]
According to one of the transitory provisions of the initiative. The steps for creating the Mexican Space Agency consist of:
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