Ukraine and Brazil sign agreement on cooperation in satellite launches (12/07/03)

Ukraine and Brazil sign agreement on cooperation in satellite launches

by George Hawrylyshyn

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - For Brazilians, the rocket-launching agreement with Ukraine came at the right time and from the right place.

The presidents of Brazil, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, signed an agreement to create a binational company for cooperation in space technology and the launching of commercial satellites using Ukrainian equipment and the Alcantara Lauching Base in northeastern Brazil.

Also signed was a letter of intent for joint space projects in the future, cooperation in defense, military and energy (gas turbines) equipment and the transfer of technology.

The time was right for the agreement because it came only two months after an explosion destroyed the Alcantara launching pad, and Ukraine's gesture serves to confirm the continuity of the Brazilian Space Program and thus boosts the morale of the scientific community, politicians and the whole country. As Brazil's Minister of Defense José Viegas put it: "The agreement will stimulate the Brazilian space program, affected after the explosion at Alcantara last August." He also pointed out that Ukraine has launched 200 of its Cyclone series and that initial plans call for each country to invest $80 million in infrastructure and preparation for the launching of four of the Ukrainian-built latest generation, Cyclone-4 rockets, the first in 2006.

Brazilians also consider Ukraine to be the right partner for their ambitious space program because they feel more comfortable dealing with Kyiv rather than with the "big powers." This is the result of the disillusionment with their first choice, the Americans, who apparently demanded complete control of the Alcantara Base and would not agree to transfer technology. The Ukrainians were willing to share their technology and made no claims on the control of the base. But the agreement is not all exclusive leaving the door open for the possibility of some form of participation by the Americans and others, including the Russians who are still in the running, and are likely to get a piece of the action.

With the agreement, Brazil enters the select club of only five countries with the capacity to provide complete services and equipment for space launchings - U.S., Russia, China, the European Union and Ukraine.

The objective is to provide these services for communication, weather and other data gathering commercial satellites, a market with an annual turn-over of $250 million. But these services have to be sold and that's no easy deal, as demonstrated by the failure to do so of Italy's Fiat-Avio. The Italian company tried to sell the Alcantara services in 1998, but pulled out of the deal a year later. Brazilian papers claimed the Italians gave up as result of American pressure. The United States, subsequently, accounts for 70 percent of the launchings.

The Brazilian selling pitch is that Alcantara - in the northeastern state of Maranhao - is almost on the equator, which makes it "the best location in the world to put a satellite into orbit." Because of this geographical vantage point, a launching here requires 30 percent less fuel than a similar operation in the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the present day launchings are made.

This in turn means not only that the fuel bill will be 30 percent lower, but also, as the Brazilians point out, that with less fuel needed the equipment will be lighter and thus would have added capacity to carry heavier satellites, even manned space capsules. The end result is a much more competitive operation. There's also the safety factor: Alcantara is on the coast and the launchings are over the South Atlantic, far away from densely populated areas.

The joint venture company, to be based in Brazil, is called Alcantara Cyclone Space and will be a partnership between Brazil's state-owned Airport Administrator, Infraero, and Ukraine's space companies and launching rocket manufacturers Yuznoye and Yuzmash.

President Kuchma was scheduled to visit Alcantara and Rio de Janeiro but cancelled both trips and returned home from Brazil right after signing the agreement because of the incident with Russia over Tuzla Island.

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