Association highlights the importance of the initiative for the country’s critical structures
Julio Shidara, president of AIAB (Aerospace Industries Association of Brazil), and Jadir Gonçalves, vice-president and coordinator of the Association’s Space Committee and managing partner of member Fibraforte, met on Monday (9) with Ana Paula Trento and Sara Sebben, respectively Deputy Chief and Legislative Advisor to the Office of Senator Styvenson Valentim, author of Bill (PL) 4569/2023, which creates the Brazilian Global Positioning System Development Program.
“We congratulate Senator Styvenson and his staff on this important initiative for the future of Brazil. In the US, for example, a possible interruption of the GPS (Global Positioning System) system would cause the suspension or severe degradation in the functioning of 14 out of a total of 16 infrastructure systems considered critical for the country and would cause a daily loss of USD 1 billion for the US economy, which would increase to USD 1.5 billion if such an interruption occurred during a critical period for its agriculture. In Brazil, the situation should be no different,” said Shidara.
“As in the US, one of the critical infrastructure systems that could be affected is the Brazilian electricity grid, which could suffer a national blackout in the event of a GPS signal failure. This would be a very serious vulnerability that would threaten our sovereignty,” added the AIAB president.
Jadir commented that “although the development of a Brazilian GPS system requires investment in the development of new technologies and new equipment, there are technologies and equipment already mastered by the national industry that could be used in the project”.
AIAB and Senator Styvenson’s office will join forces to make this important project viable for future generations of Brazilians.