by: Jessica Ferreira
In a month’s time, Brazil and China are expected to announce a new joint meteorological satellite, the South American country’s first, during the Cosban (Sino-Brazilian High-Level Concertation and Cooperation Commission) meeting in Beijing.
“It’s something we’ve never done before. We don’t have meteorological satellites, we use data from American, European and Japanese satellites, which we’re not going to abandon. This satellite will give us more data about Brazil” said Marco Antonio Chamon, president of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB).
The new satellite, which will improve the performance of Brazilian weather and climate forecasting models with more information, has implications for agriculture, the environment and other areas, as meteorology has a broader and more regional character, for the whole of South America.
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Antonio Chamon also had a bilateral meeting with the Chinese space agency (CNSA), in Wuhan, where future steps in the space relationship between the two countries were discussed, following the start of a process aimed at initiating a stronger relationship between China and Latin America in the area of space.
Chamon also reported at the event on the progress of the Cbers-6 satellite, a joint project signed a year ago by Lula and Xi Jinping during the Brazilian president’s visit to Beijing, which was designed by Chinese and Brazilian researchers and will be launched in 2028.
Another topic discussed in Wuhan was closer collaboration between the BRICS countries, which will now be assessed at a preparatory meeting for Cosban in May, regarding the space sector, as the Chinese have frequently sought Brazil’s participation in the program for a permanent base on the Moon, the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).
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