Brazil can achieve a previously distant goal still in 2026: for the first time, launch an orbital rocket from a national launch center. Furthermore, with Brazilian equipment.
The small rocket is being built by five companies, and intends to take satellites into Earth orbit. The project is an unprecedented attempt to build the MLBR (Brazilian Microlauncher) led by the company CENIC.
During the manufacturing process of space equipment, there are numerous difficulties, one of the main ones is thinking about all the details for a successful launch. A simulation video shows what the launch should be like:
“The vehicle will have twelve tons on the ramp [de lançamento] to achieve, take a payload weighing just 40 kilos into orbit. With these small satellites you can do a lot of things nowadays. This is a billion-dollar market. Brazil is privileged in terms of launch, with a magnificent geographic base”, says Ralph Corrêa, director of Cenic Engenharia, in an interview with CNN Brazil.
The project is sponsored by FINEP (Financier of Studies and Projects), linked to MCTI (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation), in partnership with AEB (Brazilian Space Agency). At a cost of R$189 million, the MLBR rocket should be launched into space in 2026.
A CNN Brazil This and other reports in the series “Brazil on the Moon” about Brazil’s role in space exploration in anticipation of the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission, scheduled for April 1, which should mark the return of astronauts to the Moon’s orbit and pave the way for new stages of
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National rocket
The rocket built in São José dos Campos, in the interior of São Paulo, is twelve meters high. The ship will be powered by solid fuel and will have three engines.
The launch should take place in Maranhão. The ultimate objective of this mission is to transform Brazil into a self-sufficient country, with autonomous access to space.
See video of the impact test of the components of the new Brazilian rocket
Other launches also went wrong
One of the first attempts to launch orbital rockets from the Alcântara Launch Center occurred in 1997. At that time there was an attempt to launch the first national VLS with a data collecting satellite.
The unsuccessful attempt forced the Brazilian Space Agency to launch the satellite via a North American rocket in 1998.
The following year, in 1999, there was a new attempt to launch the second VLS, with the SACI-2 satellite, but a failure in the second stage of the rocket forced the team to cancel the launch. Since then, only in 2025, it was attempted once again, 26 years later, .
