Government wants Chinese to launch satellites competing with Musk in Brazil

by Andrea
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The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is trying to close a partnership with China so that a company competing with Starlink, owned by businessman Elon Musk, can use the Alcântara (MA) launch base to launch satellites into space.

The negotiations, which have already been taking place since the visit of Minister Juscelino Filho (Communications) to the Chinese company SpaceSail last month, are expected to be concluded during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Brazil after the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, between 18th and 19th.

“We are trying to advance this partnership. With Xi Jinping in Brazil, we will try to make this viable in some way, in an attempt to get him to authorize it”, said Hermano Tercius, government Telecommunications Secretary, in an interview with Bloomberg News this week.

Although SpaceSail is still a new company in the satellite communication market with the use of equipment similar to Starlink, the Brazilian government’s attempt to approach and use the launch base could generate noise in the commercial relationship between Brazil and the United States.

This is because Elon Musk is a strong ally of President-elect Donald Trump, and there is speculation behind the scenes that he will take on an important secretariat close to the Republican in the White House. Depending on the degree of influence, the businessman may try to take a stance contrary to Brazil in its relationship with the United States.

There is also the aggravating factor that Musk was the pivot of a crisis with the Brazilian government by questioning decisions by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to remove profiles and content from the air on the social network X, in addition to closing the representative office in Brazil in August.

The decision made Minister Alexandre de Moraes block access to the platform in the country for more than a month and impose million-dollar fines. The network was released shortly after the first round of municipal elections after Musk committed to complying with the decisions and paying the penalties – in the meantime, Starlink had its accounts blocked to honor the legal sanctions.

Despite this, Hermano Tercius denied that negotiations with the Chinese are a type of retaliation for Musk and Starlink. “Regardless of the issue involving Starlink, it is important to have another company so that there is competition, so that there is another option for Brazilians”, he pointed out.

Tercius stated that the use of Alcântara by SpaceSail still depends on authorization from the Chinese government. In addition to this, another company was also visited by Juscelino Filho’s delegation: Galaxy Space, which also does not yet have authorization to operate outside of China.

The Alcântara base attracts the attention of several countries around the world and was even offered to Americans during the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). Its location offers important economic advantages and can boost the development of SpaceSail.

The Chinese company has already started operations with the launch of two batches of satellites, totaling 36 units, and plans to place more than 600 satellites into orbit by the end of next year. By way of comparison, Starlink already has more than six thousand satellites providing broadband access around the world.

According to Bloomberg Newsother giants in the sector, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, have also shown interest in using the Alcântara base. However, the Brazilian government is still evaluating the best strategy to make the most of this strategic asset, both from an economic and geopolitical point of view.

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