Brazil lower house ends binational firm that controlled Alcântara base

The Brazilian lower house on Wednesday (Apr. 10) approved a preliminary injunction extinguishing Alcântara Cyclone Space (ACS), created as part of an agreement forged between Brazil and Ukraine in 2003 for the use of the Alcântara launch base, in Maranhão state. The deal outlined conditions for the launch of commercial satellites. The issue will now be submitted to the Senate.

Assets, rights, and liabilities of the former ACS located out of Brazil may now be listed by Ukraine and should require compensation between the two countries.

In 2015, Brazil decided to leave the Treaty on Long-Term Cooperation in the Use of Launch Vehicle Cyclone-4, “claiming imbalance in the technological and commercial equation.”

Submitted in November by ex-President Michel Temer, the motion brings an end to the company after a deadlock in bilateral talks. The Brazilian government said a bilateral agreement to end the firm could not be reached, adding that in January 2018 financial resources to keep the company operation were no longer available.