Brazil announces new rocket launch in Alcântara in 2026
The test launch flight of a suborbital rocket, named Sebit, was announced this Friday (3) by South Korean and Brazilian state-owned companies. The rocket will depart from the CLA (Alcântara Launch Center), in Maranhão.
The negotiation is part of the first contract between ALADA (Empresa de Projetos Aeroespaciais do Brasil S.A.), a state-owned company that intends to facilitate the international commercialization of the national territory, with INNOSPACE, a South Korean company and provides for a test flight to evaluate the performance, operational readiness and reliability of the mission.
CNN Brasil revealed, firsthand, that the Brazilian company was negotiating more than 20 confidentiality agreements. As recorded in the contract, the South Korean company plans for SEBIT's first test flight to validate the rocket's flight performance.
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In addition, the test also aims to generate flight data, essential for improving the rocket and its service model. Based on the test results, the companies intend to redouble their trust in SEBIT and expand testing and verification services for research institutions and their commercial clients.
SEBIT, a multi-purpose suborbital rocket, was developed to carry out payload testing, technology verification and research missions. Its flight takes place close to the edge of space, without entering Earth orbit.
The equipment was designed for simulations of microgravity environments, scientific research, functional tests of space components and demonstration of technology in high-altitude and high-speed flight conditions.
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Alcântara Base
The base was the scene of the biggest tragedy of the Brazilian space program, which left 21 people dead in August 2003.
On the day, the team was preparing for the launch of the third version of the national VLS (Satellite Launch Vehicle), at the time when a fire in the first stage of the rocket caused the ship to explode and kill 21 people.
According to research data: "History of an announced catastrophe: attempts and failures, in the absence of cooperation policies, within the scope of Mercosur", published by UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).
Most of the victims were part of the group of Brazilian experts, more than half were engineers who had knowledge of the entire process for launching the VLS, which ended up being extinguished in 2016.
*Under the supervision of Thiago Félix
What we know about the rocket that exploded after launch in Brazil
Source: CNN