The date of March 19, 2023 went down in history, marking the definitive entry of Brazil into the select club of eight countries that hold the technology for launching space rockets: USA, Russia, China, Japan, France, India, South Korea and now the BRAZIL.
In fact, on 03/19/2023, at 2:52 pm, the South Korean HANBIT-TLV rocket was successfully launched from the Alcântara Launch Center -CLA. The launch, which was broadcast live on YouTube, lasted 4 minutes and 36 seconds and placed an all-Brazilian payload into orbit.
Named Astrolábio, the operation was the result of a partnership between the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology -DCTA and the South Korean startup Inno Space.
The rocket, which cannot be used for military purposes, measures 16.5 meters in length and weighs 8.4 tons. The maximum speed it can reach is 4,600 km/h. It uses an innovative electric pump feeding system, in addition to hybrid technology that uses liquid oxygen and a mixture of paraffins. The system provides stable, fast and cost-effective chemical composition.
It is the first launch carried out by CLA under an international contract. This success characterizes a giant step in the consolidation of the Brazilian space program and will pave the way for the realization of several commercial operations with other international operators.
É importante lembrar que esse lançamento só foi possível graças ao Acordo de Salvaguardas Tecnológicas -AST celebrado em 2019 entre o Governo Brasileiro e os Estados Unidos.
With this agreement, the Brazilian Space Agency -AEB launched a public notice to attract the interest of companies in using the CLA. Four companies were qualified, among them, the South Korean Inno Space.
The agreement contains clauses that protect both technology used by foreigners and domestic technology.
Operation Astrolábio demonstrated the national capacity to develop space technologies and launch rockets. The objective is to conquer at least 1% of the billionaire aerospace market, thus guaranteeing large revenues and consequently development for Alcântara, for Maranhão and for Brazil.
The country currently has three of its own satellites in orbit to carry out remote sensing tasks: CBERS-4 and CBERS-04A, developed in partnership with China, and Amazônia-1, a partnership between INPE and the Brazilian Space Agency -AEB. In the future, Brazil intends to send a nano satellite into space from the CLA.