SA, Brazil and India Agree to Joint Satellite Programme

Olá leitor!

Segue abaixo mais uma notícia em inglês postada hoje (16/04) pelo site sul-africano "Engineering News Online” destacando a decisão dos países integrantes do IBAS (Índia, Brasil e África do Sul) em desenvolver em conjunto dois satélites.

Duda Falcão

Space

SA, Brazil and India Agree to Joint Satellite
Programme at Trilateral Summit

By: Keith Campbell
16th April 2010
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter



Picture by: Indian Space Research Organisation
One of India’s PSLV satellite launching rockets starts lift-off
at the country’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre,
Sriharikota island, Andhra Pradesh state



At the conclusion of the fourth India Brazil South Africa Dialogue Forum (Ibsa) summit in Brasília on Thursday, the leaders of the three countries – South African President Jacob Zuma, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – announced that they had agreed to set up a trilateral satellite programme.

The programme will involve two satellites, one for Earth observation and the other for space weather and climate studies. As yet, no budget for the programme has been released.

The space weather satellite will be the first to be built and is planned to be ready for launch two years from now.

It looks as if South Africa will provide the satellite bus for this spacecraft. The bus is the term given to the basic spacecraft – that is, the structure and the control, navigation, communications and power systems – on which the actual observation imagers and systems, experiments, transponders, etc. (depending on the type of satellite) are mounted. But most of the instruments to be mounted on the bus will be provided by Brazil.

The Earth observation satellite should follow two years after the space weather satellite – in other words, four years from now – and is likely – although this is not yet confirmed – to carry South Africa’s MSMI imager, developed by Stellenbosch-based Sun Space & Information Systems (SunSpace) in cooperation with the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.

Both satellites will be launched by India, the only one of the Ibsa countries to have the capability to launch satellites at the moment.

Speaking on behalf of the three leaders, President Lula da Silva remarked that “they [the satellites] will benefit the Ibsa countries and other friendly countries, providing more effect in matters of agriculture, transport and telecommunications. It is a project symbolic of the new stage in our partnership."

President Zuma enthused that "South Africa is especially excited with the Ibsa satellite proposal. We see this initiative as an opportunity to reinforce our shared development objectives. A joint satellite could lend support to areas like agriculture, education, energy and health information and communications”.

Creamer Media's Mariaan Webb speaks to Engineering News
senior contributing editor Keith Campbell about the country's
involvement in a satellite project with India and Brazil

Fonte: Site Sul-Africano http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/

Comentário: Essa noticia do site “Enineering News Online” parece demonstrar o grande significado que este programa de satélite trilateral tem para o país sul-africano. Mais completa que as notícias divulgadas no Brasil e na Índia, a mesma nos traz informações complementares sobre este programa de satélites que não foram divulgadas nos dois países que compõem o bloco. Como por exemplo, ambos os satélites serão lançados por foguetes Indianos, a plataforma do primeiro satélite (o satélite climático) será de origem sul-africana e a maioria dos equipamentos montados nesta plataforma serão de origem brasileira, que este satélite deverá ser lançado em dois anos e o segundo satélite (o satélite de observação da terra) em quatro anos e outras coisas a mais. Não quero jogar água na aparente empolgação de nossos amigos sul-africanos, mas se esse programa fosse realizado bi-lateralmente com os indianos as chances de esses prazos serem cumpridos aumentavam muito, pois do jeito que o programa espacial é conduzido no Brasil, dificilmente esses prazos serão cumpridos. Tome como exemplo leitor o exitoso “Programa CBERS” fruto de um acordo assinado com os chineses em 06 de Julho de 1988 que só veio a lançar o seu primeiro satélite em 14 de outubro de 1999, ou seja, mais de 11 anos depois. Assim é o Brasil. Estou errado? Me cobrem se eu estiver.