BackIndia places Brazil’s Amazonia-1 satellite, 18 others in orbit
Brazil said it is looking to boost ties with India in space tech like payload and satellite platform development
PremiumBrazil is looking to deepen cooperation with India in space technologies, including payload and platform development.
The statement came on a day when India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launched the earth observation satellite, the Amazonia-1, which was developed by Brazil.
The launch of the 637kg Amazonia-1 was the first by India of a Brazilian satellite. On Sunday, PSLV-C51, which also carried 18 Indian satellites, is the first dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) commercial arm set up in 2019.
“The commercial use of space has been a major trend nowadays. Brazil and India have a very strong partnership and we can work together using the facilities and the knowledge we have commercially. I see this as a very good opportunity for both countries," said Marcos Pontes, Brazil’s minister for science, technology and innovation, who is in India to attend the launch event. Amazonia-1 will send remote-sensing data for observation and monitoring of deforestation in the Amazon rainforests and the state of agriculture in Brazil. The data obtained from the satellite is expected to be used for monitoring coastal regions, water reservoirs, natural and cultivated forests and predict possible environmental disasters. It is equipped with a wide-view optical camera with 3 visible frequency bands and 60 metres resolution. It will be set on a sun-synchronous orbit (passing over one point of the earth at the same time every day), generating images of any part of the world every five days, said Brazilian officials.
Clezio de Nardin, director, National Space Institute of Brazil (INPE), said: “We are looking for cooperation in payload development and also in satellite platform development. These are the main targets but it is not limited to these. We are also looking at the development of ground instrumentation for space science. Since India has a great number of facilities, we would like to strengthen our relations in this area."
India and Brazil formalized collaborations in space technology with an agreement in 2004, but de Nardin said cooperation between the two countries has been going on for decades. After the deal was signed both nations worked on tracking services and reception of remote sensing data.
Thanks to the 2004 pact, India used Brazil’s Cuiabá earth station to collect localization data right after the launch of the famous Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter mission in 2013. Brazilian Space Agency, via its ground stations, has also provided tracking support to Indian missions such as Chandrayaan-1 on a commercial basis.
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