President Piñera announces new National Satellite System: “Chile takes a giant leap forward in its incorporation into the world of space”
The initiative will give Chile its own satellite capacity that matches the needs of the country. It involves the incorporation of three satellites that will provide better images and expand national information and knowledge on space matters.
Last Saturday, the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, announced the development of a new National Satellite System for the purpose of developing a space program that contributes to national scientific and technological development for defense purposes and for civil society.
The program’s initiatives provide a roadmap for realistic space development that will enable Chile to have its own satellite capacities within ten years that match the needs of the country.
“Instead of an individual satellite, we want to announce the launch of a National Satellite System, which will coordinate and integrate the efforts of the Defense Ministry, the Chilean Air Force (FACH) and the Science Ministry for the benefit of our defense and security, science, our economy, natural catastrophe preparedness, search and rescue operations, the protection of our natural resources, climate monitoring and protection of our nature and environment,” said the President, who was accompanied by the Defense Minister, Mario Desbordes, Science Minister, Andrés Couve, and Transport and Telecommunications Minister, Gloria Hutt.
The program will provide an operational satellite to replace the FASat-Charlie, which has run its course, and also contemplates the manufacture, launch and implementation of two new high-resolution satellites, one of which will be built in Chile.
The three satellites will form a national constellation for observing the Earth, exceeding the capacity of the FASat-Charlie. The information these will provide will be complemented with preferential access to other satellite constellations, which will provide a broader range of images, received with greater frequency at a lower cost.
This will be in conjunction with the implementation of three ground control stations, located in Santiago, Punta Arenas and Antofagasta. The Antofagasta station will be mobile. These will be interconnected and will provide decentralized access to satellite images and will increase the possibilities for international cooperation on space issues.
“With this new National Satellite System, Chile takes a giant leap forward in its incorporation into the world of space, the fourth industrial revolution, the digital world and the knowledge and information society, for the benefit of the well-being and quality of life of all Chileans,” declared the President.
Additionally, seven microsatellites will be built with the participation of the defense sector, academia and the national industrial sector, which will expand Chilean knowledge of space and contribute to technological development in Chile. For example, these will focus on alerts for Search and Rescue (SAR) systems and ocean surveillance and monitoring.
In conjunction with the National Satellite System Project, the country is moving forward on the governance model for the Chilean space system, which will incorporate a new space institutional structure that will enable an effective coordination and integration between different public services and active participation of academia and national enterprise on space matters.