Text Size
In Latin America, Brazil, Chile and Argentina haltingly
continued small efforts to develop their own space launch and operations
capability for garnering a share of future satellite markets. In
2004, there were no launches from these countries. Brazil has the
most advanced space program in Latin America, with significant capabilities
in launch vehicles, launch sites, and satellite manufacturing. In
2004, Brazil and Russia agreed to expand their cooperation in space,
including the joint development and production of launch vehicles,
the launch of geostationary satellites and the joint development
and utilization of Brazil's Alcântara Launching Center (Centro de
Lançamento de Alcântara, CLA) in Maranhão.
In Canada, the Canadian
Space Agency (CSA) continued supporting work on its contribution
to the ISS partnership, the Mobile Service System (MSS), consisting
of the 3960 lbs (1800 kg) Space Station Remote Manipulator System
(SSRMS) Canadarm2, the Mobile Base System (MBS), and the Special
Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM). Canada also has an active
Canadian Astronaut Program.
On July 17, 2004, Telesat Canada's innovative, high-speed Ka-band multimedia telecommunications satellite Anik F2 was launched to geostationary orbit in a picture-perfect liftoff by an Arianespace Ariane 5G+ heavy rocket. At 5900 kg (13,000 lbs), the Boeing-built Anik F2 is one of the most powerful communications satellites ever built and the 15th satellite launched by Telesat.
Also in 2004, Canada's Radarsat-1
"eye-in-the-sky" completed its ninth year of operation, well beyond
its five-year nominal lifetime. Over the years, it has delivered
precision images and garnered 15% of the world's Earth observation
market for Canada. Development of Radarsat-2
is underway for launch in 2005.