Julio Shidara, president of AIAB, took part in the CBN na Rede program on CBN Vale radio. The topic of the interview was “The importance and role of Brazilian science in the aerospace sector”.
Among the subjects covered, Julio pointed out that Brazil is currently experiencing a scenario of almost total dependence on foreign satellites to provide essential and basic services to its citizens, a fact that compromises national sovereignty.
“Just as in the United States, where 14 out of a total of 16 critical infrastructure systems depend on the GPS time signal to function, in Brazil, services such as electricity supply, means of transfer and electronic payments, internet, TV, communication, among others, could cease to function if there were a lack of access to the GPS signal,” Julio warned.
The American GPS (Global Positioning System) is one of the four PNT (Positioning, Navigation and Timing) systems with global coverage that currently exist, in addition to the Chinese Beidou, the Russian Glonass and the European Galielo.
Regarding the possible causes of the underfunding of the Brazilian Space Program (PEB), Julio was emphatic, pointing to the lack of awareness among decision-makers of the great and undesirable dependence of Brazilian society and economy on foreign space infrastructure.
“Without its own space infrastructure in the various areas of application, Brazil will always depend on third countries, and could be subject to foreign interests to the detriment of national interests, compromising national sovereignty,” said Shidara.
As a positive outlook, the AIAB president shared his conviction that we are living in a unique moment, which will represent a watershed in the trajectory of the PEB (Brazilian Space Program). The largest economic grants for the industry in the history of FINEP (Financier of Studies and Projects), with resources from the FNDCT (National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development), have been earmarked for the space sector in recent years, for the development of a high-resolution optical Earth observation satellite, small launch vehicles for launching nano-satellites into low orbit and a hypersonic accelerator vehicle.
“These developments will take the Brazilian space industry to another level of technological maturity and competence. If investment continues, it’s only a matter of time before we gradually reduce our current dependence on foreign satellites and the Brazilian space industry becomes a global player, just like the respected Brazilian aeronautics industry,” concluded Shidara