Defense Ministers Agree to Create an ESA for South America

During a meeting in Lima, Peru last week, defense ministers from 11 South American nations agreed to pursue the creation of a South American space agency, according to media reports.

The decision was made during a two-day meeting of the Defense Council of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). UNASUR Secretary General Maria Emma Mejia chaired the gathering, which included defense ministers from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela. Guyana is also a member of UNASUR, but it is not mentioned in press reports as having sent a representative to the defense meeting.

“The idea is to access the space as quickly as a satellite launcher and South American manufacturing,” said Argentina’s Defense Minister Arturo Puricelli. “We have the example of the European Union, which has a space agency. We want to converge our efforts to reduce costs and improve the chances of access to space, and enhance our capabilities.”

No detailed plans for the common space agency were developed. Representatives will consult with their governments on how the project can be accomplished.

Modeled after the European Union, UNASUR is a supranational political organization designed to integrate the Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) customs unions and the unite the continent politically. The dozen member nations have a combined population of nearly 400 million people.

The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on May 23, 2008, and it entered force on March 11, 2011. Former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner was elected to a two-year term as the organization’s first secretary general on May 4, 2010. UNASUR is splitting its institutions among member nations. The main headquarters will be in Quito, Ecuador. The South American Parliament will sit in Cochabamba, Bolivia. And the headquarters of the Bank of the South is located in Caracas, Venezuela.