Actividades latinoamericanas en el espacio ultraterrestre en el siglo XXI: una actualización
| Autor | Sylvia Ospina |
| Páginas | 15-38 |
1
ACTIVIDADES DEL ESPACIO LATINO AMERICANO EN EL SIGLO XXI: UNA
ACTUALIZACIÓN
Palabras Clave: Derecho espacial, Satélite, Comunicaciones, Latino América,
Telecomunicaciones.
LATIN AMERICAN SPACE ACTIVITIES IN THE 21
ST
CENTURY:
AN UPDATE
Sylvia Ospina, JD, LL.M.
S. Ospina & Associates - Consultants
POB 141814
Coral Gables, FL 33114
Email: sospina@bellsouth.net; sospina2@gmail.com
Keywords: Space Law, Satellite, Communications, Latin America, Telecommunications.
This paper will review some of the major space-related accomplishments that have taken
place in Latin America since 2000. Significant among these have been the launch of several
large communication satellites, two manufactured and launched by the Chinese for Venezuela
and Bolivia, respectively, and two satellites manufactured by a native Argentinean corporation,
and launched by Arianespace. Several smaller, ‘cubesats’ were manufactured in Brazil, Ecuador,
Colombia, and Peru, and orbited by different launch service providers.
In addition to technical advances, such as the orbiting of satellites and sounding rockets,
several international, regional, and national conferences related to space activities were held in
Latin America, with the aim of developing space policies, and eventually establishing a regional
space agency.
Certain measures have been taken toward achieving this goal, notably setting up national
space agencies or commissions in each of the South American countries, in some of the Central
American nations and in Mexico. Some of these national space agencies were created as a result
of the Space Conferences of the Americas (CEA-Conferencia Espacial de las Américas). The
CEAs have been instrumental in fomenting interest and involvement in space activities since the
first one was held in Costa Rica in 1990, and the most recent one, VII CEA, held in Nicaragua in
November 2015.
Despite all these meetings and activities, are the Latin American countries closer to
achieving their goal of establishing a regional space agency? What steps could they take, at the
national level and regional levels, to attain their objective? Are there models from other regions
that they could emulate, or set aside? What measure could be taken to ensure that space activities
in Latin America will be viable as well as productive in the short- and long-term?
Would ratifying the principal space treaties be a good starting point? Alternatively, would
drafting sector-specific legislation, based on the international instruments, be a better starting
point? This paper aims to address some of the issues that stand in the way of regional
cooperation, and offer recommendations to overcome them. Perhaps dancing to the same
musical beat would help!
2
BACKGROUND
Latin America, like Africa, is frequently referred to as a monolithic entity. A closer look,
however, reveals many countries, with different cultures, languages, and music, some
indigenous, some imposed by the European colonizers: French, Dutch, British, Spanish and
Portuguese.
As to space activities, there are some similarities between Africa and Latin America.
Whereas in the 1980s, the emphasis was on acquiring a national or regional communications
satellite, many countries now are studying the possibility of obtaining remote-sensing /earth
observation satellites. Several countries in Africa, (Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia) already
have remote-sensing satellites and/or centers
1
but in South America, Venezuela and Brazil have
remote-sensing /earth observation satellites, and now, Peru.
2
Venezuela’s “Miranda” earth
observation (EO) satellite was built and launched by the Chinese in 2012, while Brazil and China
have been cooperating on the CBERS
3
program since the 1980s. But the similarity between
Africa and Latin America seems to end here, as the two continents are quite different from each
other.
4
Currently, the most prevalent languages in Latin America are Spanish (18 countries) and
Portuguese (Brazil), although French, English, and Dutch are spoken in some of the Caribbean
islands.
5
This paper will focus on the ‘continental’ countries, where Spanish and Portuguese are
dominant in urban areas,
6
each language with its unique lilt and rhythm; each country and region
within a country with its particular accent. Are these linguistic differences reflected in their
approach to space activities? After all, language
7
seems to reflect a society’s structure, its
values, and perhaps even its participation in space endeavors!
The 1976 BOGOTÁ DECLARATION
8
A significant event in Latin American space policy was the 1976 Bogota Declaration
which put into question some of the fundamental principles of space law embodied in the 1967
1
The Regional Remote Sensing Center for North African States, established in 1990, is headquartered in Tunisia; its
members include Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Sudan. http://www.crtean.org.tn/.
2
Peru launched its first earth observation satellite on 16 Sept. 2016.
3
CBERS is the acronym for the China-Brazil Earth Reso urces Satellite(s).
4
See S. Ospina, The Digital Divide a nd Space Activities in the Southern Hemisphere(s): A General Overview of
Africa and South America. IAC-11.E.7.3.6 ( Capetown, S. Africa, 2011).
5
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) lists 35 countries in i ts ‘Americas’ Region.
http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/definition s/regions.aspx.
6
http://lanic.utexas.edu/subject/countries/. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
80% of the population in Latin America lives in urban areas, and have greater access to telecommunications,
including internet. In rural and remote areas, where other indigenous languages are spoken (e.g., Aymara, Quechua,
Guaraní), there is a lack of telecom ser vices, further isolating them from mainstream activities. See
http://www.latinamerica.undp.org/content/rblac/en/ho me/regioninfo.html.
7
G. Lupyan, R.Dale, Language Structure Is Partly D etermined by Social Structure.
University of Pennsylvania. (2010, January 28). Sc ienceDaily,
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100121 140347.htm. But Juan Carlos Moreno Cabrera ar gues the contrary:
“…no direct relationships between words and social or ganisation can be established.” Journal of Multicult ural
Discourses; Vol. 1, No. 2, 2006. www.academia.edu/2 605939/Linguistic_Structure_and_Social_Structure.
8
Declaratio n of the First Meeting of Equatorial Countries. Bogotá , Colombia, 3 Dec. 1976 . ITU Doc. WARC-BS
(17 Jan 1977) 81-E. Reproduced in Journal of Space La w 1978; 6:193.
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