Brazilian Space Agency

[Lo.M]

 Brazilian Space Agency has followed a politc of technological development together with more advanced space programs. Initially, it depended heavily on the United States, but after facing their difficulties in technology transfers, Brazil branched out, working with other nations, including China, India, Germany, Russia and Ukraine. In December 2020, NASA signed a collaboration agreement with AEB to participate in the Artemis program, with a Brazilian lunar robot as a resource.

Details

Abbreviation:	AEB
Formed:	10 February 1994
Headquarters:	Brasília, Distrito Federal
Administrator: Minister of Science and Technology:	Carlos Augusto Teixeira de Moura  Marcos Cesar Pontes
Primary Spaceport:	Alcântara Launch Center
Owner:	Government Of Brazil
Annual budget:	R$179.334 million / US$46.702 million (2019)
Website:	http://www.aeb.gov.br/
Language:	Portuguese (NOT SPANISH)

Rockets:

Sonda-1	Not in use	Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket
Sonda-2	Not in use	Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket
Sonda-3	Not in use	Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket
Sonda-4	Not in use	Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket
VSB-30	Active	Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket,  The VSB-30 is based on the VS-30 rocket (S-30 engine) with the addition of a booster stage.
VS-30	Active	Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket
VS-40	Active	Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket
VS-50	In development	Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket
VLM	In development	Micro-satellite launcher, Cooperation with Germany
VLS-1	Canceled	Solid Rocket, Orbital launch satellite vehicle/Liquid Rocket

 

 

VLS-1V4	In development	After the explosion of the last rocket at the launch base, Brazil recreated a fully revised rocket, Solid Rocket, Orbital launch satellite vehicle.
Sonda-IIIA	Not in use	More modern version of sonda-III, Sounding rocket, Solid Rocket

 

 

VS-43	Canceled	More modern version of VS-40, Souding Rocket, Liquid Fuel

VLM: 

VLS-1: 

Sonda-1: 

VS-40: 

Cruzeiro do Sul Program:

The Cruzeiro do Sul Program is a project that initially provided for the construction of five variants of satellite launcher rockets under the Brazilian space program. The program will be conducted jointly by the General Aerospace Technology Command and the Brazilian Space Agency, in partnership with Russia.  However, currently the project is practically frozen.

Alcantara accident (some who say it was sabotage of the USA):

Satellites:

Data Collection Satellites (SCD-1 and SCD-2):

China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellites (CBERS):

SGDC: a space telecommunications mission

Amazonia-1,  Successful launch on the 28th of February at 02:40 a.m (Brasilia time)!, Cooperation with India

Engines:

 

• S-10-1 solid rocket engine.^[28] Used on Sonda 1. Thrust: 27 kN.
• S-10-2 solid rocket engine.^[29] Used on Sonda 1. Thrust: 4.20 kN, burn time: 32 s.
• S-20 Avibras solid rocket engine.^[30] Used on Sonda 2 and Sonda 3. Thrust:36 kN
• S-23 Avibrassolid rocket engine.^[31] Used on Sonda 3M1. Thrust:18 kN
• S-30 IAE solid rocket engine.^[32] Used on Sonda 3, Sonda 3M1, Sonda 4, VS-30, VS-30/Orion and VSB-30. Thrust: 20.490 kN
• S-31 IAE solid rocket engine.^[33] Used on VSB-30. Thrust: 240 kN
• S-40TM IAE solid rocket engine.^[34] Used on VLS-R1, VS-40, VLS-1 and VLM-1. Thrust: 208.4 kN, isp=272s.
• S-43 IAE solid rocket engine.^[35] Used on Sonda 4, VLS-R1 and VLS-1. Thrust: 303 kN, isp=265s
• S-43TM IAE solid rocket engine.^[36] Used on VLS-R1, VLS-1 and VLM. Thrust: 321.7 kN, isp=276s
• S-44 IAE solid rocket engine.^[37] Used on VLS-R1, VS-40, VLS-1 and VLM-1. Thrust:33.24 kN, isp=282s
• L5 (Estágio Líquido Propulsivo (EPL)) liquid fuel rocket engine. Tested on VS-30 and projected for use on VLS-Alfa.^[38]
• L15 liquid fuel rocket engine. Projected for use on VS-15.^[39] Thrust: 15 kN
• L75 liquid fuel rocket engine, similar to the Russian RD-0109.^[40] Projected for use on VLS-Alfa, VLS-Beta, VLS-Omega, VLS-Gama and VLS-Epsilon. Thrust: 75 kN
• S-50 IAE solid rocket engine. Projected for use on VLM-1 and VS-50.^[38][41]
• L1500 liquid fuel rocket engine.^[40] Used on VLS-Beta, VLS-Omega, VLS-Gama and VLS-Epsilon. Thrust: 1500 kN

Human spaceflight:

Marcos Cesar Pontes

Current Minister of Science and Technology

(cooperation with NASA, ISS)

Launch Centers: 

Alcântara Lauch Center: (CLA): CLA is located at latitude 2°18' south, and originally had an area of 620 km², in the municipality of Alcântara, 32 km from São Luís, capital of the Brazilian state of Maranhão.

The base has:

• Engine preparation building
• Payload preparation building (scientific/technological experiments or satellites)
• Liquid propellant loading building
• Support buildings (where the rocket can be stored)
• Launch Platforms (where the rocket is launched)
• Advanced Control Center (bunker).
• Air base with paved and signposted airstrip, and aircraft yard.

Barreira do Inferno Launch Center (CLBI): or simply Hell's Barrier is a Brazilian Air Force base for rocket launches. Founded in 1965, it became the first rocket air base in South America. [1] It is located on the Rota do Sol, in the municipality of Parnamirim, 12 km from Natal, capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. It focuses on small and medium-sized rocket launch operations. The installation brought to Natal the nickname of "Space Capital of Brazil"

The current activities of the base are:

• Tracking the Ariane launcher vehicle, in conjunction with the French Space Center in (Kourou, French Guiana), in accordance with the established in an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA).
• Continuation of tests and experiments of interest of the Air Force Command.
• Provision of operational means for the benefit of experiments of interest to the Brazilian Navy and Army, aiming, in addition to the participation of projects of interest to the Brazilian Air Force, to increase cooperation between the Armed Forces
• Sale of suborbital rocket launch and tracking services to national and foreign organizations, making operational means available to the international scientific community for conducting space operations, especially those related to research and monitoring of the environment, mainly through the observation of the atmosphere. As is the EXAMETNET project that was directed to the study of the atmosphere in the range between 30 and 60 km of altitude.

Full list of satellites: Objetos Espaciais Brasileiros — Português (Brasil) (www.gov.br) .

Fonts: Página Inicial — Português (Brasil) (www.gov.br) / Brazilian Space Agency - Wikipedia

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Lo.M

[Lo.M]

Updated

[Lo.M]

Follow the launch of Amazonia-1 (1) AO VIVO - Lançamento do satélite Amazônia-1 - YouTube

11:50 p.m. (Brasilia time)

9:50 p.m. Washington time

Edited February 27, 2021 by Lo.M

[Lo.M]

Updated

[Lo.M]

Edited February 28, 2021 by Lo.M

[Gargamel]

Added to the Index. 

[Lo.M]

Wow Successful launch of the amazonia-1!!!!!!!! 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Lo.M

[kerbiloid]

Quote

Did you know about the existence of the Brazilian space program?

Of course. KSP originated from there.

[Lo.M]

Error loading comment

Edited March 1, 2021 by Lo.M

[Lisias]

12 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Of course. KSP originated from there.

I hate you!

Serious now, that one was a serious set back. I had read the reports, man... what a mess.

One of the boosters ignited when the vehicle was fuelled (besides still inside the building - two bad moves) due a flaw on the grounding, and almost all the key heads of the program were in the radius of the explosion blast. The program ended because almost no one was left alive on the program.

It takes decades to educate engineers for this job, and since there's no exactly a aerospacial industry around here, there's little to no incentive to people follow such a career - you risk unemployment, who else needs rocket scientists?

In a way or another - the difference between the countries that have a working spacial program from the ones that don't have it is simple: just one of them failed only once.

[Spaceman.Spiff]

5 minutes ago, Lisias said:

you risk unemployment, who else needs rocket scientists?

I'm sure the military is always looking  

[Lo.M]

Alcântara accident report: http://www.aereo.jor.br/downloads/VLS-1_V03_Relatorio_Final.pdf (in Portuguese) (130 pages)

13 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Of course. KSP originated from there.

[Lo.M]

See the images of the decoupling of the Amazonia-1 satellite: https://youtu.be/Te3vyUJC_U8