Brazil announces investment program for aerospace development

The Brazilian government announced this Friday an investment program for the development of innovation and technology in the aerospace sector, with which it intends to advance in the manufacture of a new satellite capable of increasing the control of environmental crimes in the Amazon rainforest.

Brazil’s Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Luciana Santos, stated that the government would invest 360 million reais (US$72 million) in the aerospace sector and innovation and technology.

Businessmen, civil servants, military, and engineers participated in the city of Sao José dos Campos, São Paulo state (southeast), in an event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Brazilian Aerospace Industry Association.

The minister assured that the line of financing and subsidies for the sector is ten times more than that already invested by the federal government and is aimed at the development of a new satellite, as well as the creation of platforms in the area of technology in partnership with private companies.

“The investments will have as a counterpart innovation for the companies. They will have to present innovation projects, and we will be able to develop a very advanced technology, which is the optical satellite that will make it possible to visualize the territories overcoming clouds, which is a great difficulty we have, especially in the Amazon”, he explained.

This plan also includes investing in technology for disaster prevention.

It will be linked to the National Center for Monitoring and Warning of Natural Disasters (Cemaden) in Sao José dos Campos.

The minister also sponsored an agreement between the government agency Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep) and Embraer to develop new aeronautical technologies.

Embraer is the world’s third largest aircraft manufacturer, after Boeing and Airbus, and is the leader in the medium-haul aircraft segment.