South American Nations Build Space Programs With Foreign Assistance

Ukraine's Cyclone-4 rocket

Space powers Russia, China and Ukraine are finding South America to be a fertile ground for cooperation, assisting governments in the region in developing their own space capabilities and programs.

The latest news comes from Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia. Brazil has announced that it plans to launch a satellite in 2014 using a domestically produced VLS-1 rocket. The booster will be a revamped version of one that exploded in Alcântara (MA) in 2003, killing 21 people.

In addition, Brazil and Ukraine are scheduled to launch the Cyclone-4 rocket from Alcântara at the end of this year. The Ukrainian built rocket can launch satellites up to 5,300 kilograms to the equatorial low earth orbit (LEO) and 1,600 kilograms satellite to geosynchronous orbit.

Brazil also has been working closely with China. The cooperation has largely been in launching three China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellites (CBERS).

Meanwhile, Venezuela is looking to develop its own space industry with foreign assistance, the Telegraph reports:

Russia has offered to help Venezuela set up its own space industry, including a satellite launch site, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made his first visit to the South American country.

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, announced Russia’s offer before Mr Putin arrived, saying officials would discuss the possibility of setting up a “satellite launcher and a factory.” The two countries are also discussing new weapons deals, Mr Chavez said Thursday night in televised remarks, without giving details.

Mr Chavez has built close ties with Russia, buying more than $4 billion in Russian weapons since 2005, including helicopters, fighter jets and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

Russian and Venezuelan officials said they planned to sign new agreements for energy projects in Venezuela, as well as industrial, commercial and agriculture projects.

Venezuela launched its first satellite, the “Simon Bolivar,” in 2008 in a cooperative deal with China.

The move was met with skepticism in Washington, where spokesman Philip Crowley noted that the oil-rich South American nation seemed to be having difficult with keeping the lights on.

“I think in the meeting there was some suggestion of space travel by Venezuela,” Crowley said. “We would note that the government of Venezuela was largely closed this week due to energy shortages and to the extent that Venezuela is going to extend resources on behalf of its people, perhaps the focus should be more terrestrial than extraterrestrial.”

Meanwhile, Bolivia has established a space agency and is embarking on a $300 million satellite project with China:

The Bolivian government and a Chinese corporation on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding on helping Bolivia launch communications satellite “Tupac Katari.”

The agreement was signed by Executive Director of the Bolivian Space Agency Willy Herbas and Yin Liming, president of the Great Wall Industries Corporation (GWIC) which is authorized by the Chinese government to produce and launch satellites.

Bolivian President Evo Morales and Chinese Ambassador Qu Shengwu as well as many other senior Bolivian officials and GWIC technicians attended the signing ceremony….

At the signing ceremony, GWIC chief Yin said the signing of the agreement opens a new phase of cooperation in the field of space communications between the two countries.