Study on the Development of a South American Space Agency

SILVA-MARTINEZ, JACKELYNNE P.; AGUILAR, ANDRÉS D.; SORICE, ANDREIA F.; OJEDA, OSCAR I.; SARLI, BRUNO V.; ULLOA, ADRIÁN; PARDO SPIESS, MONIKA JOHANNA; GENARO, GINO; MELGAR, ISABEL

Guadalajara

Congreso; 67th International Astronautical Congress; 2016

International Astronautical Federation

The idea of establishing a South American Space Agency (SASA) is not new. There have been many discussions about  this  topic  for  a  while, including  an  agreement  by  the  South  American  Nations  Union  for  its  acronyms  in Spanish  UNASUR,  to  create  such  space  agency. Roughly  10  years  ago,  Argentina  was  the  first  to  propose  this collaboration  with  a  military  orientation. As  the  ideas  progressed, Brazil  was  proposed  as  an  option  to  host  its headquarters. However,  not  much  support  from  the  South  American  region  has  been  given  in  both  financial  and  logistical aspects. To this day such space agency or a similar concept has not yet been established in the region. The  Space  Generation  Advisory  Council  (SGAC)  hosted  the  first  South  American  Space  Generation  Workshop  (SA-SGW)  in  Argentina  in  2015,  where  one  of  the  working  groups  was  tasked  to  further  investigate  its  feasibility, advantages and challenges, in implementing SASA.  This paper presents an extension of the main findings from this working  group  where  South  American  students  and  young  professionals study  and  present  a  rationale  in  favor  of SASA, outlining possible solutions and structure that could be taken into account in its implementation. Throughout the paper particular attention is paid to the question: Is it possible for countries in South America to establish such kind of cooperation to stimulate the development and application of capabilities in the space sector, which will allow undertaking missions far beyond the scope of what any single country in South America could do on its own? The  existence of a South  American Space Agency  would allow  access to a common orbital vector, which  wouldlower  costs,  be  accessible  to  all  participating  countries,  and  allow  engaging  with  other  emerging  and  established  space agencies around the world.