South Korea's Innospace to launch rocket from Brazil in December

South Korea's Innospace to launch rocket from Brazil in December
June 17, 2022, 5:15 pm

Innospace to conduct first suborbital launch of flight hardware in December - Pic. Koreatechdesk

The president of Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), Carlos Moura, said on Friday (June 17), South Korean aerospace and defense company Innospace will be the first private business to send up a rocket from the Alcantara launch center in northern Brazil in December.

Moura said in an interview that Innospace, which plans to make low-cost small satellite launches more accessible from multiple locations around the globe, is still developing its rocket and will test it with an experimental launch from Alcantara.

The South Korean company is developing a hybrid rocket powered by both solid and liquid fuel.

Brazil is hoping to get a slice of the rapidly-growing small satellite launch market by offering its base in Alcantara, whose location on the Atlantic coast by the equator reduces fuel costs as satellites do not have to travel so far to get into orbit.

South Korea's innospace to launch rocket from Brazil in December - Pic. anews

U.S. rocket company Hyperion pulled out of negotiations with Brazil and Innospace took its place to become the operator of the main launch area at Alcantara base, which is run by the Brazilian Air Force.

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Moura said that Canadian aerospace company C6 Launch Systems Inc, which last year obtained a Brazilian operator license, plans a launch from Alcantara in 2023, while Virginia-based Orion AST, which plans launches initially aimed at collecting space junk, has not made progress.

Billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit has also obtained a license to operate in Brazil and will use Alcantara's existing 2.6-kilometer (1.6-mile) runway for its Boeing 747, Cosmic Girl, to take off and launch rockets that put smallsats into low earth orbit.

Moura said smaller satellite companies are having a hard time booking launches from existing sites, with waiting lists of two to three years, so Alcantara could become an alternative.

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Moura said that although Elon Musk visited Brazil recently, his SpaceX has no plans to invest in a new installation such as Alcantara and will continue working from existing sites in the United States.

He said that but if the number of SpaceX flights increases rapidly and the U.S. government decided to build a facility in northern Brazil that could change.

Source: anews

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