Brazil

The Brazilian space programme began in 1961, under the command of the national military authorities. It has developed a national launch vehicle programme, begin­ning in the 1970s. In 1994, the programme was civilianised, under the charge of the Ministry of Technology and Science and the Brazilian Space Agency (in Portuguese the Agenda Espacial Brasiliera or AEB) was formed, with its launch site in Alcantara. Early co-operation with the Americans was hindered by American laws relating to technology transfer, and Brazil now co-operates with a number of other nations.

AEB originally signed a contract to provide an experiment rack, to be launched on the Shuttle and mounted on the exterior of ISS. In return a Brazilian astronaut would fly to ISS on a Shuttle mission, as part of NASA’s allocation of ISS utilisation time. Budgetary constraints prevented the Brazilians manufacturing the experiment rack, but the flight of their astronaut has taken place.

Brazil operates several AEB centres:

• National Institute for Space Research is responsible for the oversight of all of Brazil’s space programmes and the development of relevant hardware.

• Institute of Aeronautics and Space (IAE) oversees the development of Brazil’s launch vehicles.

• Alcantara Launch Centre.