South Korean Aerospace Company Innospace To Launch Satellite From Northern Brazil

Innospace, will be the first private company to ship rockets from Alcantara's launch center in Brazil. (photo: twitter @innospacecorp)

JAKARTA - South Korean aerospace and defense company Innospace will be the first private company to send a rocket from the Alcantara launch center in northern Brazil in December this year. This statement came from the President of the Brazilian Space Agency, Carlos Moura, told Reuters, Friday, June 17.

Innospace, which plans to make small, low-cost satellite launches more accessible from locations around the world, is still developing its rocket. "They will test it soon with an experimental launch from Alcantara," Moura said in an interview quoted by Reuters.

The South Korean startup is developing hybrid rockets powered by solid and liquid fuels. They will test this vehicle in a suborbital flight that will carry an inertial navigation system payload for the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) operating the Alcantara base, the Brazilian agency said.

Brazil hopes to gain a share of the rapidly growing small satellite launch market by offering its base at Alcantara, which is located on the Atlantic coast in the equatorial region, to reduce fuel costs because satellites don't have to travel far to enter orbit.

US rocket company Hyperion withdrew from negotiations with Brazil. Eventually, Innospace replaced him to become the main launch area operator at the Alcantara base, which is run by the Brazilian Air Force.

According to Moura, Canadian aerospace company C6 Launch Systems Inc, which last year obtained a Brazilian carrier license, is also planning a launch from Alcantara in 2023. Virginia-based Orion AST, which planned the launch initially aimed at collecting space junk, has not made any progress.

Billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit has also obtained a license to operate in Brazil and will use the existing 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) Alcantara runway for the Boeing 747, Cosmic Girl, to take off and launch rockets that house small satellites to earth lower orbit.

Moura said smaller satellite companies had difficulty booking launches from existing sites, with waiting lists of two to three years, so Alcantara could be an alternative.

Although Elon Musk visited Brazil recently, his SpaceX has no plans to invest in new installations like Alcantara and will continue to work from its existing site in the United States.

"But if the number of SpaceX flights increases rapidly and the US government decides to build a facility in northern Brazil, that could all change," Moura said.