This chapter talks about the different countries in South America and their laws around outer space.
Top10.2. Brazil
The Brazilian legal framework applicable to space-related activities has been conceived in accordance with fundamental guidelines and rules instituted by the Federal Constitution of 1988. Such a framework represents a historical milestone as far as democratic movements in Latin America are concerned (Moraes, 2019), and it has played a major role in the advancement of the Brazilian national space program.
To improve the coordination of the Brazilian space program and to stress its peaceful purposes, the Brazilian Space Agency (Agência Espacial Brasileira, AEB) was created by Law 8.854/1994. As a civilian entity headquartered in Brasilia, it enjoys financial and administrative autonomy (Article 2).
Originally submitted to the Presidency of the Republic, by Decree no. 3.566/2000, the AEB has been under governance of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI). According to its current regimental structure, the AEB comprises a Presidency, a Superior Council, and four dedicated Directories (Decree no. 10.469/ 2020).3Let’s look at the Brazilian space program. It all started with President Jânio Quadros who established in the 1960s a commission that elaborated a national program for the space exploration. Then, the main objectives of the Brazilian space program were set in 1979 by the Brazilian Complete Space Mission. This initial program has been gradually extended.
The return to a civilian-led government after twenty years of military rule (between 1964 and 1985) as well as pressure from the United States of America for the space program to be demilitarized, led in 1994 to the creation of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) which replaced the inter-ministerial structure which depended on the military. Recently, in 2011, Argentina’s Minister of Defense, Arturo Puricelli, made a proposal to Celso Amorim for the creation of a unified South American space agency by the year 2025.4
The Brazilian Space Agency was established by “Law of Establishing the Brazilian Space Agency.” The Brazilian Space Agency (Portuguese: Agência Espacial Brasileira; AEB) is the civilian authority in Brazil responsible for the country's space program.
It operates a spaceport at Alcântara, and a rocket launch site at Barreira do Inferno. The agency has given Brazil a role in space in South America and made Brazil a former partner for cooperation in the International Space Station.5
The Brazilian Space Agency is the heir to Brazil's space program. Previously, the program had been under the control of the Brazilian military; the program was transferred into civilian control on 10 February 1994.
It suffered a major setback in 2003, when a rocket explosion killed 21 technicians. Brazil successfully launched its first rocket into space on 23 October 2004 from the Alcântara Launch Center; it was a VSB-30 launched on a sub-orbital mission. Several other successful launches have followed.6
On March 30, 2006, AEB astronaut Marcos Pontes became the first Brazilian and the first native Portuguese-speaking person to go into space, where he stayed on the International Space Station for a week.