Brazilian Space Agency

2°20′S 44°24′W

The Alcântara Launch Center (Portuguese: Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara; CLA) is the main launch site and operational center of the Brazilian Space Agency.[11] It is located in the peninsula of Alcântara, in the state of Maranhão.[12] This region presents some excellent requirements, such as low population density, excellent security conditions and easiness of aerial and maritime access.[12] The most important factor is its closeness to the Equator - Alcântara is the closest launching base to the Equator.[11] This gives the launch site a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites.[11]

5°55′30″S 35°9′47″W

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.[13] 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.[14]

Brazilian sounding rockets

VS-40 rocket

VLS-1 at the Alcântara Launch Center

VSB-30, the Brazilian sub-orbital vehicle

The Brazilian Space Agency has operated a series of sounding rockets.

• Sonda I
• Sonda II
• Sonda III
• Sonda IV
• VSB-30
• VS-30
• VS-40
• VS-50 (projected, will use the new S-50 rocket engine)

VLM, the future Brazilian three-stage satellite launcher

Brazil has forged a cooperative arrangement with Germany to develop a dedicated micro-satellite launch vehicle. As a result, the VLM "Veiculo Lançador de Microsatelites" (Microsatelite Launch Vehicle) based on the S50 rocket engine is being studied, with the objective of orbiting satellites up to 150 kg in circular orbits ranging from 250 to 700 km. The first qualifying and test flight will be on 2022 from the Alcântara Space Center.[15] The second flight is scheduled for the following years as part of the SHEFEX mission, to be conducted also from Alcântara, in partnership with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).[16]

The VLS - Satellite Launch Vehicle (Portuguese: Veículo Lançador de Satélites) was the Brazilian Space Agency's main satellite launch vehicle.[17] It is a four-stage rocket composed of a core and four strap-on motors.[18] The vehicle's first stage has four solid fuel motors derived from the Sonda sounding rockets.[18] 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.[18] 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.

The VLS-1 V4 prototype was expected a launch in 2013.[19][20] After subsequent delays, the project was cancelled in 2016.[21]

Part of the satellite testing facility at the National Institute for Space Research

The Brazilian Space Agency was developing a new family of launch vehicles in cooperation with the Russian Federal Space Agency.[22][23][24] The five rockets of the Southern Cross family will be based on Russia's Angara vehicle and liquid-propellant engines.[22]

The first stage of the VLS Gama, Delta and Epsilon rockets was to be powered by a unit based on the RD-191 engine.[22] 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.[22] The third stage will be a solid-propellant booster based on an upgraded version of the VLS-1.[22] The program was named "Southern Cross" in reference to the Crux constellation, present on the flag of Brazil and composed of five stars.[25] Hence the names of the future launch vehicles:[25]

• VLS Alfa (light-weight rocket)

The first rocket to be developed. As a direct modification of the VLS-1 of the original project, replacing the fourth and fifth stages by a single liquid fuel engine. It can place payloads in the range 200–400 kg in orbits up to 750 km.

• VLS Beta (light-weight rocket)

Consisting of three stages without auxiliary thrusters. The first stage is a solid fuel propellant 40 tons, the second will have 30 tons of thrust engine and the latter will be 7.5 tons of thrust, with the same mixture "Kerolox". It can place payloads up to 800 kg in orbits up to 800 km.

• VLS Gama (light-weight rocket)

The VLS Gama 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 orbit up to 800 km.

• VLS Delta (medium-weight rocket)

The VLS Delta launcher is a medium-weight rocket and differs from the Gamma by having four solid-propellant boosters attached to the first stage.[22] Its payload deliverable to a geostationary orbit is 2 tons.[22]

• VLS Epsilon (heavy-weight rocket)

The VLS Epsilon launcher is a heavy-weight rocket with three identical units attached to the first stage.[22] It can place a 4 tons spacecraft in geostationary orbit, if it is launched from Alcântara.[22]

The Brazilian government was planning to allocate $1 billion dollars for the project over six years.[22] It has already set aside $650 million for the construction of five launch pads able to handle up to 12 launches per year.[22] The program was scheduled to be completed by 2022.[25] However, it was cancelled by Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff. Instead, Brazil will focus on a series of smaller launch vehicles that appear to rely more on home-grown technology.

14-X in computer graphics

Brazil is also investing in the domain of the hypersonic technology. The 14-X, a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) under development with the Brazilian Air Force, was conceived in 2007 and launched on 14 February 2022,[26][27] by a VSB-30 rocket, reaching to 100,000 feet of altitude and a maximum speed of Mach 10.[28]

The China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program (CBERS) is a technological cooperation program between Brazil and China which develops and operates Earth observation satellites. Brazil and China negotiated the CBERS project during two years (1986–1988), renewed in 1994 and again in 2004.

ISS Express Logistics Carrier

The Brazilian Space Agency is a bilateral partner of NASA in the International Space Station.[57] The agreement for the design, development, operation and use of Brazilian developed flight equipment and payloads for the Space Station was signed in 1997.[57] It includes the development of six items, among which are a Window Observational Research Facility and a Technology Experiment Facility.[49] In return, NASA will provide Brazil with access to its ISS facilities on-orbit, as well as a flight opportunity for one Brazilian astronaut during the course of the ISS program.[57] However, due to cost issues, the subcontractor Embraer was unable to provide the promised ExPrESS pallet, and Brazil left the programme in 2007.[58][59] However, as a compromise, NASA have funded small Brazilian-made components for the Express Logistics Carrier-2 for the ISS, which were installed in 2009.[60]

On October 21, 2003, the Brazilian Space Agency and the State Space Agency of Ukraine established a cooperation agreement creating a joint venture space enterprise called Alcântara Cyclone Space.[61] The new company will focus on launching satellites from the Alcântara Launch Center using the Tsyklon-4 rocket.[62] 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.[63]

The first launch was planned for 2014 from the Alcantara Launch Center.[64]

On November 8, 2010, National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) signed a Letter of Intent regarding the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) program.[65] Examples of the cooperation include the monitoring of illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest utilizing data from JAXA's ALOS satellite. Both Brazil and Japan are members of the Global Precipitation Measurement project.[66]

On 21 October 2020, Brazil was invited by the United States to join NASA's Artemis Space Program.[67] On 15 June 2021, the country officially joined the program by signing the Artemis Accords with the U.S. and international partners, for the joint exploration of the Moon from 2024 and Mars and beyond in 2030s. The roles of Brazil include the development of a national lunar robot for the use in the future missions.[7]

On 18 August 2021, AEB signed cooperation agreements with space agencies of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), to the joint-development of a remote sensing satellite constellation,[68] aiming to help with common challenges for the mankind such as the climate change, major disasters and environmental protection. Ground stations located in Cuiabá in Brazil, Moscow Region in Russia, Shadnagar–Hyderabad in India, Sanya in China and Hartebeesthoek in South Africa will receive data from the satellite constellation.[69]