Brazilians suffered a double sadness this week. Within hours of the body of slain UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello being returned to his homeland from Baghdad, an explosion at Brazil�s Alcantara rocket base killed 21 expert space technicians and scientists and destroyed a rocket that was due to launch two satellites into space next week. This was the third failure of the Brazilian Space Agency to launch a rocket.
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To a very large degree, Brazil�s space program has been using homegrown resources. Therefore the investment has been made in Brazil. As NASA in the US has not tired of telling everyone, its own space exploration produces substantial commercial technological spin-offs that are of use here on earth. This must hold true of Brazil�s program too.
On top of this, the programs of Brazil, India, China, Japan, the Ukraine and even the Europeans represent a challenge to the two established space powers. They are a marker for the future when the exploration and exploitation of space will need to become a truly global effort, in which the US and Russia can no longer be the dominant powers. The best cooperation comes when all parties have something to bring to the table. The technological exchange that will be essential for the hard challenges of space will need to be evenhanded. Hence the drive by countries such as Brazil and India to acquire the experience and knowledge and be a part of a greater, global effort in years to come.
Arab News 24 August 2003
