Experts see broad prospects for China-Brazil aerospace cooperation

China and Brazil plan to jointly develop new Earth-resource satellites and continue to promote the construction of the BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation, showing broad prospects for aerospace cooperation between the two countries, according to experts.

Over the past 30 years, China and Brazil have achieved fruitful results in the China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite (CBERS) project, space experts from the two countries said at the China-Brazil Space Cooperation Symposium held by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in Beijing on Monday.

CBERS has become the longest and most influential international cooperation project in the field of aerospace and is a model of "South-South cooperation," the experts said.

Ma Shijun, CBERS Project Mission Manager, said that in 1988, the two countries signed an agreement to jointly develop the CBERS project, sharing the cost and separately developing its systems. Both sides had advantages, and they were highly complementary, Ma said.

In 1999, the first China-Brazil earth-resource satellite was successfully launched, giving China its first transmission-type remote sensing satellite. It was the first satellite jointly developed by China and another country and was rated one of the top 10 scientific and technological advances of the year in China.

China and Brazil have jointly developed six earth-resource satellites, and the CBERS-4 and CBERS-4A satellites are running well in orbit.

Data from the satellites has served the social and economic development of the two countries and is widely used in the fields of natural resources, agriculture, forestry, geology, water resources, urban planning and environmental protection.

The satellites have also helped monitor global disasters such as forest fires, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis. Data from the satellites is provided to developing countries free of charge.

Jose Raimundo Coelho, former president of the Brazilian Space Agency, who participated in the symposium, was recently awarded the Friendship Award of the Chinese government in recognition of his outstanding contribution to promoting aerospace cooperation between China and Brazil.

The CBERS has met the needs of Brazil in exploring and monitoring natural resources, he said, adding that China-Brazil aerospace cooperation will become closer and closer.

He believes that, with the exchange and development of aerospace science and technology, more satellites will be launched.

The aerospace cooperation between China and Brazil is open, honest and equal, Ma said.

The two major developing countries have jointly carried out satellite design and final assembly testing, shared quality management and project management methods, and accumulated rich experience in research and development, which has improved their aerospace science and technology levels, he said.

China and Brazil signed a supplementary protocol between the two governments in Beijing last April, stipulating that the two countries will jointly develop and launch the CBERS-6 satellite.

The CNSA said the aerospace cooperation between China and Brazil will benefit the people of the two countries, contribute to the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.