Alcântara Space Center
Left to right from the top: VLS Pad, Control Center, Command Room, Tracking Antenna, Alcântara area from space | |
Location of the Alcântara Space Center | |
| Abbreviation | CEA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1982 |
| Type | Spaceport |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 02°20′22″S 44°25′03″W / 2.33944°S 44.41750°W |
Official language | Portuguese English |
| Owner | Aerospace Operations Command Brazilian Air Force Brazilian Space Agency |
Director | Col. Marcello Correa De Souza |
| Website | fab |
Formerly called | Alcântara Launch Center |
The Alcântara Space Center (Portuguese: Centro Espacial de Alcântara, CEA), formerly known as Alcântara Launch Center (Portuguese: Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara,) is a space center and launching facility of the Brazilian Space Agency in the city of Alcântara, located on Brazil's northern Atlantic coast, in the state of Maranhão. It is operated by the Brazilian Air Force (Comando da Aeronáutica). The CEA is the closest launching base to the equator. This gives the launch site a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites, an attribute shared by the Guiana Space Centre.
Due to its location, it is well-positioned for geosynchronous launch. As such, several agencies and companies have studied or signed agreements to launch from Alcântara, including Ukraine's Tsyklon-4, Israel's Shavit, Russia's Proton, Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne and Innospace's Hanbit-Nano.
Construction of the base began in 1982. The first launch occurred on February 21, 1990, when the sounding rocket Sonda 2 XV-53 was launched. On August 22, 2003, the explosion of the third VLS-1 (XV-03) killed 21 people.