Review of Space Activities in South America

Journal of Aeronautical History

Revised 11 September 2018

Paper 2018/08

Review of Space Activities in South America

Bruno Victorino Sarli, Space Generation Advisory Council, Brazil Marco Antonio Cabero Zabalaga, Space Generation Advisory Council, Bolivia

Alejandro Lopez Telgie, Universidad de Concepci?n, Facultad de Ingenier?a, Departamento de Ingenier?a Mec?nica, Chile

Josu? Cardoso dos Santos, S?o Paulo State University (FEG-UNESP), Brazil Brehme Dnapoli Reis de Mesquita,

Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Maranh?o, A?ail?ndia Campus, Brazil Avid Roman-Gonzalez, Space Generation Advisory Council, Peru Oscar Ojeda, Space Generation Advisory Council, Colombia

Natalia Indira Vargas Cuentas, Space Generation Advisory Council, Bolivia Andr?s Aguilar, Universidad Tecnol?gica Nacional Facultad Regional Delta, Argentina

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the past and current efforts of the South American region in space. Space activities in the region date back to 1961; since then, South American countries have achieved a relatively modest capability through their national programs, and some international collaboration, with space activities in the region led primarily by the Brazilian and Argentinian space programs. In an era where missions explore the solar system and beyond, this paper focus on the participation of a region that is still in the early stages of its space technology development, yet has a considerable amount to offer in terms of material, specialized personnel, launch sites, and energy.

In summary, this work presents a historical review of the main achievements in the South American region, and through analysis of past and present efforts, aims to project a trend for the future of space in South America. The paper also sets out current efforts of regional integration such as the South American Space Agency proposal.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Since the late 1950s, space has become another dramatic arena for countries to prove their technological superiority, military firepower and, by extension their political-economical system. Argentina and Brazil started the first space activities in 1961 and 1967, respectively, with the launch of Alfa-Centauro and Sonda I rockets. Since then, individual South American countries have been developing space capacity to provide basic space-based services and small autonomy in this area. As the countries in the South American region develop their activities, the most significant steps have been initiated by such countries as Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. Brazil currently has a well-established institute of space research, has sent one astronaut to the ISS, and continues efforts to develop its own launch capability. Argentina is currently working in

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the construction of Tronador II, a light payload satellite injector, based on previous models (Tronador Ia and Ib) successfully launched from Punta Indio naval base. In Peru, the national Aerospace Research and Development Commission (CONIDA) launched Paulet-1, the first Peruvian space probe, in 2006 from Punta Lobos air force base. Bolivia is also making its mark in the sector with its first telecommunications satellite (2013) and recent efforts to develop a remote sensing satellite. In 2011, Chile put its Earth Observation satellite SSOT/FASAT-Charlie into orbit, providing the best resolution in South American region.

Space programs in South America not only address a technological gap; they also offer a chance to inspire people and bring to their attention the potential and benefits of the space sector. This paper provides a historical review of the evolution of the space activities in South America and its relation with historical and political aspects, as well as important steps. In addition, this paper directly addresses the outcomes of the 2011 Defense Ministers meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), where the representatives collectively decided to prioritize the creation of a South American Space Agency and its collaboration through UNASUR.

Figure 1 This figure shows the national space agencies of Latin American countries, including previous institutional incarnations where applicable. Data compiled by author, image by MRoy Cartography.

Following this introduction, section 2 discusses the proposed South American Space Agency and the UNASUR. Sections 3 to 9 present, respectively, a historical review of the main accomplishments of each country. Section 10 analyses past achievements and approaches as these relate to projecting future trends and collaboration

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2.0 THE SOUTH AMERICAN SPACE AGENCY

The UNASUR treaty (1), signed in Brasilia, Brazil, on 23rd May 2008, is a legal instrument integrating the former countries of the Andean Community of Nations (Comunidad Andina de Naciones, CAN), the Southern Common Market (Mercado Com?n del Sur, MERCOSUR) and Chile, together with Guyana and Suriname. The enrollment of the entire region gave the union full legality with the Constitutive Treaty reaching force on 11th March 2011, thus making UNASUR a legal entity. As an entity with international legal identity, UNASUR aims at prioritizing political dialog, social policies, education, energy, infrastructure, financing and the environment, with a view to eliminating socioeconomic inequality in South America. The UNASUR bodies as well as its objectives mirror the European Union organization. Early negotiations about UNASUR considered the adoption of the communitarian European model and the enhancement of the existing legislation of CAN and MERCOSUR.

The Sixth Space Conference of the Americas (CEA), held in Pachuca Mexico, in November 2010, approved the Pachuca Declaration, in which the creation of a Space Technical Consulting Group brought together representatives of the national agencies or government bodies in charge of space affairs. This working group aimed to support the CEA and its executive secretariat. In November 2011 the defense ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Venezuela and the deputy-minister of Uruguay agreed on the creation of a South American Space Agency during a meeting of the Defense Council of UNASUR. Goals for this agency will be to focus efforts placing satellites into orbit using a regional launch vehicle in order to reduce costs and increase technological capabilities. In accordance with the United Nations Outer Space Treaty (2), all the activities will be for peaceful uses.

Within the framework of the South America Space Agency, Argentina proposes the development of a satellite launch vehicle, which aligns to the national Tronador project; however, some of the South American countries resisted the proposal. Nevertheless, the goal of technological cooperation in the satellites area seems to attract more attention of the Member States. During the November 2011 meeting, the Argentine Defense Ministry indicated its interest in developing a space agency project with UNASUR. Brazil has positioned against the proposal, based on the costs involved in creating new structures. Moreover, this objective does not align with the nonmilitary characteristics of the Brazilian space program. The Brazilian argument is that disparity on the South American space capabilities would reduce Brazil's advantages; however, the development of the Alcantara Launch Center in Brazil is a strong motivation, which would allow development of a regional center for satellite final assembly, testing, launch, control, and tracking.

Nowadays, there are still factions supporting the creation of a regional space agency, but governments still cannot agree about whether to support and fund the creation of such an entity. The South American Space Agency remains a goal that is being pursued in the region.

3.0 ARGENTINA

Argentina's history of space-related activities dates back to the mid-20th century, when following the practice of both the US and the USSR the government recruited scientists from Germany and other European countries to help develop the earliest Argentine rockets and aircraft. Argentina's

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first activities in the space field date back to 1960, when the National Commission for Space Research (Comisi?n Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales, CNIE) was first established. The CNIE, working with local and international partners, carried out the first South American scientific atmospheric measurements using rockets and stratospheric balloons. In 1961, the government created the Center for Experimentation and Launching of Self-propelled Projectiles in the city of Chamical under the acronym CELPA. A second launch center, CELPA At?ntico, was created near the coastal town of Mar Chiquita. Together with the Argentine Institute of Aeronautics and Space Research (Instituto de Investigaciones Aeron?uticas y Espaciales IIAE, a center depending from the Argentina Air Force), CNIE designed and constructed, and launched a family of one and two-stage sounding rockets. The first single stage rockets, Alfa-Centauro and Beta-Centauro, were launched in 1961. Later the IIAE developed a family of two stage soundingrockets, with the first named Gamma-Centauro (launched in 1963), and latter creating others: Rigel, Orion, Canopus, Castor and Tauro. With this experiment, Argentina became the third nation to measure cosmic radiation, providing early evidence of the ozone hole.

The first Latin American course on space survey matters was organized by CNIE at the Bariloche Atomic Center. NASA scientists and experts from Harvard, Iowa, and Rice Universities lectured as part of the course, which was amply attended by Argentine professionals as well as by Brazilian, Chilean, and Colombian researchers (3). INVAP S.E., another player of major importance in the Argentine space-related sector, was founded in 1979 as a state owned enterprise, aimed at transferring academic knowledge to the industrial sector addressing national needs. Initially developing nuclear technologies, it diversified and came to be the main contractor for many of Argentina's space projects as well as a NASA collaborator (4, 5). Since the late 1970's throughout the next decade Argentina developed the project codenamed C?NDOR which sought to produce a missile larger than any other produced in the country. The project involved collaboration from European providers and alleged funding from Iraq. This together with the evident military capabilities of rocket technology involved led to international pressure to put an end to the project and the deactivation and destruction of related facilities (6). Similar international pressure resulted in the cancelation of the Argentina's CNIE, that had always operated under the Argentine Air Force, and so in 1991, the Argentine government established CONAE, the National Commission of Space Activities (Commission Nacional de Actividades Espaciales), as a civil entity reporting directly to the President. Since 1996, this specialized agency has been transferred between different Ministries (7). CONAE's progress continues through today with the development of new satellite technologies as well as a project of light satellite payload injector.

Argentina's commitment to space activities has been further demonstrated in the 2010's with the creation of a state owned enterprise ARSAT devoted to designing and operating telecommunications satellites among other related activities, and recently building CEATSA, a center for high technology test facilities strategically built next to INVAP, that allows Argentine satellites to be tested in a national facility. Even though in recent years the new administration changed national priorities and CONAE's representatives have shown concerns on this regard, particularly in the budgetary aspect (8), Argentina has demonstrated to be an actor in the space sector, and reinforcing the importance of bringing new players and dedicated individuals to collaborate and develop new ties with the international space community.

Table 1 shows the chronology of the major events of the Argentinean Space Program.

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Table 1 Main space related events in Argentina

Year

Event

Test of first Argentinan liquid 1949

rocket engine T?bano

1960 Creation of CNIE

Launch of first Argentinan rocket 1961

using solid fuel Alfa Centauro

1961 Launch of Beta Centauro

1963 Launch of Gamma Centauro

1963 Launch of Pros?n rocket

1966 Launch of Orion II rocket 1966 Launch of Canopus II rocket 1967 Launch of Rigel rocket 1969 Launch of Castor rocket

Creation of INVAP Start of the 1979 C?ndor launcher program 1990 Launch of LUSAT-1 satellite

Year

Event

1991 Creation of CONAE

1996 Launch of the ?SAT-1 V?ctor satellite

1996 Launch of the SAC-B satellite

1998 2000

2001

2007 2010 2011 2014

Launch of the SACA satellite Launch of the SAC-C satellite PADE is flown to space aboard Endeavour on mission STS-108 Launch of the Pehuensat-1 satellite Creation of CEATSA Launch of the SAC-D satellite Launch of the ARSAT-1 communications satellite

2014 Launch of Tronador prototype VEx-1b

2015 Launch of the ARSAT-2 communications satellite

4.0 BOLIVIA

10th February 2010 marked the day Bolivia officially began its journey into the space era, initiated by the promulgation of Supreme Decree 0423. With the issuance of this Decree, the Bolivian Space Agency (Agencia Boliviana Espacial, ABE) became a Strategic National Public Enterprise with legal identity of an indefinite duration, entitled to its own assets; administrative autonomy; and financial, legal, and technical management under the custody of the Ministry of Public Works, Services and Housing.

Being a strategic Bolivian governmental agency, ABE has the following specific functions (9):

?

Promote the development of new satellites and space projects.

?

Promote technology transfer and training of human resources in space technology.

?

Promote the implementation of the satellite applications for use in social programs,

productive programs, defense programs, environment programs and others.

On 23rd December 2010, the Bolivian government and the Development Bank of China signed a contract to build the Bolivian satellite. The ABE managed and implemented the satellite project, named Tupac Katari and after three years, on Friday 20th December 2013, the first Bolivian Telecommunication Satellite was successfully launched reaching an altitude of approximately 36,000 kilometers above the Earth to enter its first orbit. In Bolivia, technicians of Amachuma, the Earth station in the city of El Alto, reported that the first satellite signals were received, stating that "Bolivia enters at the space age". Bolivia had officially entered the small privileged

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