INPE Discuss Development of an Satellite with France

Hello reader!

It follows one communicates published in english on the day (24/08) in the website of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) announcing that the institute is discussing with France the development of an innovative satellite.

Duda Falcão

INPE Discuss Development of an

Innovative Satellite with France

August 24, 2010

The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) hostess on August 25-26, the Centre Nationale d’Étudie Spatiales (CNES), to discuss the first phase of the new meteorological satellite development that will be employed for measuring the rainfall and the collection of data on climate change as well.

The proposal foresees the construction of a Franco-Brazilian satellite to orbit the planet in tropical regions like the Amazon, allowing more frequently and effective monitoring of the rainfall over the forest and providing new data on the climate change.

"The meetings with the CNES on this week are of great importance and can be conclusive for the INPE’s initiative to develop a satellite that will undoubtedly have a crucial role in monitoring the climate," says Marco Antonio Chamon, coordinator of Technological Management at INPE.

With its launching planned for 2016, the satellite will have a multimission platform base developed by INPE, and will have on board a radiometer – a device for measuring the rain - to be jointly developed by both countries. The proposal is to create an instrument based on radiometer French Madras, with more advanced features, that allows obtaining information that nowadays are not accessible by satellites.

The bilateral discussions for this mission started in October last year and should culminate into an agreement after the government agencies approval, a report to be released in October 2010.

In Brazil, this report should be evaluated by the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and in France, subject to the approval of a committee on evaluation of CNES.

This agreement, which will benefit the entire scientific community, will be important for both countries, both in terms of technological advances on industrial development.

The four steps in this cooperation - designing, manufacturing, launching and operation - as well as the mission costs shall be dived equally, a proposal being discussed by the two countries. The manufacturing can be shared by Brazilian and French companies with part of the satellite being developed in Brazil and another in France.

The initial proposal is that the phase of integration and testing of the satellite is carried out at INPE, which in this case would absorb the costs for this stage of development.

The agreement in the space field proposed by INPE along with the CNES aims also to strengthen the bonds of the international cooperation which already exists between the two countries.

Source: WebSite of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE)