The launch was witnessed by the Brazilian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Marcos Pontes, and the heads of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Sriharikota.
The successful launch of Brazil’s Amazonia-1 satellite by the Indian Space Research Organization marks a new high point in space cooperation between the two countries that began nearly two decades ago, officials say.
The launch was witnessed by the Brazilian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Marcos Pontes, and the heads of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Sriharikota on Sunday.
“This confirms the infinite potential of the [India-Brazil] association to overcome our development challenges through high technology ”, said Brazilian Ambassador Andre Aranha Correa do Lago The Hindu, and added that the new satellite “would open the door to multiple commercial and governmental opportunities” and would help “comply with the environmental commitments of the Brazilian government” with the Amazon rainforest.
Upon receiving the news of the launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a “historic moment” in space cooperation between India and Brazil.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said the first satellite made entirely in Brazil, which would help monitor Amazonian forests, was a mark of the “growing investment” the country was making in science and technology.
The launch also marked the first dedicated mission of ISRO’s business division, NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL).
Brazil’s Amazonia-1 satellite is being integrated with the PSLV. Photo: National Institute for Space Research
The unique relationship between the two countries has ensured support for each other’s satellites and the use of each other’s ground stations, including tracking India’s Chandrayaan-1 and 2 missions and the 2013 Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission using ground stations Alcantara and Cuiaba.
Brazil and India first signed a memorandum of understanding between the Space Department and AEB in March 2002, followed by a Framework Agreement in 2004, which is reviewed by a Joint Working Group (JWG). In 2007 they signed a special agreement that allows Indian scientists to access Brazilian ground stations to remote sensing data from Indian satellites.
In 2018, two officials from the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) joined an 8-week training program on nanosatellite construction at ISRO, and in 2020, when President Bolsonaro visited India as a Republic Day guest, he and Modi agreed to intensify space cooperation as a priority area.
In addition to bilateral space cooperation, an official note said that both countries are part of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-China-India-South Africa) cooperation to build a ‘Virtual Constellation of Remote Sensing Satellites’ to share remote sensing satellite data.
What The Hindu As reported last week, India has begun preparations to host the BRICS summit later this year, which, if held in person, would revisit President Bolsonaro, along with the leaders of China, Russia and South Africa.
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