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42-513: SAC-D was an international collaboration between the space agencies of Argentina and the United States, CONAE and NASA , with participation from Brazil ( INPE ), Canada ( CSA ), France ( CNES ) and Italy ( ASI ). It carried five Earth observation instruments (NASA, CONAE, CSA, ASI), two space science instruments (CNES), a data collection instrument (CONAE), and a technology demonstration system (CONAE). The spacecraft's main instrument, Aquarius ,

84-451: A better understanding of ocean dynamics and advancing climate and ocean models, both from season to season and year to year. The models still are improving El Niño prediction. Aquarius global salinity maps show how freshwater plumes coming from the mouth of large rivers and the precipitation and evaporation over the oceans affect the salinity structure of the ocean. “The Aquarius sensor collected three years and nine months of valuable data. It

126-417: A failure of the spacecraft's Remote Terminal Unit (RTU), causing loss of onboard power regulation and attitude stabilization. While efforts were made to recover the spacecraft, the mission was declared over on 8 June. Comisi%C3%B3n Nacional de Actividades Espaciales The National Space Activities Commission ( Spanish : Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales , CONAE) is the civilian agency of

168-633: A resolution of 3 x 0.4 m. It is intended as a pre-SAOCOM test bench. These missions will be part of the Italian-Argentine System of Satellites for Emergency Management (SIASGE), together with the Italian COSMO-SkyMed missions (see related article Orfeo Programme ). Knowing the great advantages of combining the information provided by L and X Band radars and the convenience of a shorter revisit period, Argentina and Italy are joining efforts to develop this system, which will be fully devoted

210-638: A satellite during its flight. Once checked the appropriate soil conditions, in April of the following year, the Command-in-Chief of the Argentine Air Force formally requested to the Mendoza provincial State a grant the loan of a portion of land located in the north side of the airport, to establish the station. As requested, the province gave the land required as free loan extended for five years. After that time,

252-535: A triangulation which will allow the ESA to ensure mission coverage around the clock. 20. STRAT CAT. Mendoza Airpark - Stratospheric balloon launches Centauro (sounding rocket)#Alfa Centauro The Centauro series is a family of Argentinian solid-fuel sounding rockets developed by the Instituto de Investigaciones Aeronauticas y Espaciales (IIAE). This family includes Alfa, Beta, and Gamma Centauro. Alfa Centauro

294-545: A two-stage vehicle, was tested after 1964, notably from Antarctica. Alfa Centauro measured 2.7 m in length and 101 mm in diameter (at the warhead), with a total maximum weight of 28 kg and only 3.3 kg of payload. The solid fuel used consisted of a mix of nitrocellulose , nitroglycerin and additives. Main characteristics of the Alfa Centauro sounding rocket were: Built entirely in Argentina and under

336-421: Is a multi-stage satellite launcher. It was expected to start flight tests in 2012. The T-4000 third stage test-rocket (with a diameter of 43.8 cm) is also being developed, with the current version using a liquid propellant engine of 40 kN trust. However, in the last 4 years, 1 third stage prototype and 1 first stage pre-prototype launch attempts have been unsuccessful. The last of these attempts ended with

378-507: Is being implemented in order to control the SAC-D/Aquarius satellites launched on 10 June 2011. Testing and Integration Facilities are specialized spaces where different components of space missions, such as satellites , spacecraft , and instruments, are tested, assembled, and integrated. These facilities play an important role in ensuring that the equipment and technology intended for space missions function properly and reliably. For

420-533: Is located 30 km southwest from Córdoba , in a region called Falda del Carmen and houses the following installations: Responsible for the tracking, command and control (TT&C) of the Argentine satellites, and for the ingestion, cataloging and archiving of satellite data products. CONAE's Córdoba Ground Station (ETC) has been in operation since 1997. It has capacity for data reception and TT&C. Currently, it receives data from 12 international satellites, besides

462-644: The Buenos Aires Province , named "Polo Espacial de Punta Indio". It is intended to test the Vex rockets, technological demonstrators for the Tronador II launcher. The Tronador launch site will be called "Complejo Argentino de Acceso Al Espacio" (Argentine Space Access complex), located at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base . The national space program provides for two satellite series and both are devoted to Earth observation : one with main Argentine instruments in

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504-528: The Orion sounding rocket . Gamma Centauro was a two-stage rocket, with a length of 2.43 m and a diameter of 13 cm, capable of sending a 5 kg payload to an apogee of 59 km. Main characteristics of the Gamma Centauro sounding rocket were: Gamma Centauro was first tested on December 6, 1962. The following year, several tests of models I and II were conducted at CELPA. On August 27, 1964,

546-541: The government of Argentina in charge of the national space programme . During the 1940s, Teófilo Tabanera organized a group of foreign and Argentine specialists as the Sociedad Argentina Interplanetaria, SAI (Argentine Interplanetary Society). Tabanera's efforts ensured that Argentina was the first Latin American nation to create a spaceflight organisation and in 1952 was one of the founding members of

588-580: The troposphere , and below the mesosphere . The stratosphere is stratified (layered) in temperature, with warmer layers higher and cooler layers closer to the Earth; this increase of temperature with altitude is a result of the absorption of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation (shortened UV) by the ozone layer . In the 1980s, Argentina took part in a multinational effort to develop the Condor missile . Under United States pressure,

630-529: The "Operation Inca" mission was carried out in the province of Mendoza (more precisely near the Puente del Inca ). During the operation, a vehicle was propelled to an altitude of 35 km, and the payload was recovered by parachute. The model served to test the equipment that would later be part of the next project in Antarctica in 1965, including the launch tower and the polyethylene cover with heating that maintained

672-568: The 1970s the CNIE signed an agreement with the French Centre National d'Études Spatiales ( CNES ) (English: National Centre for Space Studies) to create and implement the EOLO Program. It would involve the launch of 500 stratospheric air balloons into the Earth's stratosphere to study the dynamics of air displacement. The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above

714-464: The Argentine Air Force's Instituto de Investigaciones Aeronáuticas y Espaciales (IIAE) to develop a number of indigenous multistage high-altitude sounding rockets and missiles ( Alfa Centauro and Beta Centauro in 1961, Gamma Centauro in 1962, Proson-M1 in 1963, Orión-1 in 1965, Orión-2 and Canopus I in 1966, Rigel , Canopus II and Castor in 1969 and Tauro in 1977). Argentina

756-518: The Condor program was cancelled in 1991. The associated development and production facilities at Falda del Carmen were closed down, the Fabrica Militar de Aviones , which concentrated on development of surveillance satellites for Earth resource and environmental monitoring . The present commission (CONAE) was created on 28 May 1991, during the government of Carlos Menem , after the cancellation of

798-478: The Earth's water cycle and ocean circulation. Project scientists later derived a method of pulling soil moisture data from Aquarius' radiometer. NASA launched SAC-D from Vandenberg Air Force Base 's Space Launch Complex 2W aboard a Delta II 7320-10C on 10 June 2011 at 14:20:13 UTC. The launch was delayed from May 2010 because development of the spacecraft was taking longer than expected. The Aquarius instrument's surface salinity measurements contributed to

840-580: The International Astronautical Federation. Argentine Aldo Cocca was a pioneer in space law and helped originate the idea of space being the common heritage of humankind, later enshrined in United Nations treaties of the 1960s. In 1960, Tabanera was named head of the newly created Comisión Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales "CNIE" (National Commission for Space Research), a forerunner agency founded in 1960. CNIE worked with

882-708: The NASA-provided Aquarius mission for taking measurements of sea salinity which will contribute to the better understanding of the environment, together with CONAE-provided sensors which will contribute to monitoring possible fire focuses. On the other hand, the SAOCOM series involves the construction of two missions with an L-band full polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) as main payload, with Belgium and Italian partnership. The SARE satellites are under study. They will weigh around 200 kg and employ nanotechnology. The Tronador (rocket) , under development,

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924-666: The cabin at a temperature of 25 °C. Gamma Centaur tests continued in February 1965 when, for the first time, two Gamma Centaur rockets were simultaneously launched from the CELPA Experimentation Center, and two others from the Matienzo Base in Antarctica. Two sounding balloons assembled by the National University of Tucumán were also tested, reaching an altitude of 24 km. In this way, Argentina became

966-535: The control of the Argentine Air Force , the first launch took place on February 2, 1961, from the Santo Tomás base in the Achala Pampa in the province of Córdoba . The rocket was named APEX A1-02 and reached an altitude of 20 km. Beta Centauro, a two-stage sounding rocket, had a length of 3,812 mm. The first stage (similar to Alfa Centauro) measured 1,769 mm with a diameter of 94 mm, and

1008-610: The data from Argentine missions. The National Space Program foresees the setting up of a second ground station in Ushuaia , Tierra del Fuego Province, at the southern tip of Argentina, to enable the collection of data on the Antarctic continent . Responsible for planning, commands elaboration and monitoring the Argentine satellites. Today the SAC-C Mission Operation Center is fully operative and SAC-D mission operation centre

1050-526: The experiments were successful and yielded significant advances, with a total of 18 launches carried out. On May 25, 1963, the Centauro 35 launch was undertaken for the "sodium cloud" operation, resulting in wind and turbulence measurements, reaching an altitude of 189 km. Experiments with the Beta Centauro allowed for the refinement of payload takeoff and altitude measurements, continuing from 1964 with

1092-572: The failed mission SAC-B, and the SAC-C launched in 2000 and still operating. The administration of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner renationalizes Fabrica Militar de Aviones in 2009 and the Falda del Carmen facility has been reactivated to support the development of the new Tronador II rocket. Defense missile and rocket development has been restarted under the umbrella of CITEFA . The Teófilo Tabanera Space Center , or CETT ( Centro Espacial Teófilo Tabanera ),

1134-476: The installation of a 35-m antenna and other mission support facilities at the Pierre Auger Observatory , near Malargüe, Mendoza . The facility will contribute to the ESA's Mars Express , Venus Express , and Rosetta space probe projects, as well as CONAE's own, domestic research and the ESA's planned Deep Space project. One of only three such ESA installations in the world, the new antenna will create

1176-549: The military Condor missile program in an attempt to move all the commission efforts to civilian purposes. It received the Air Force aerospace facilities in Córdoba and Buenos Aires of the former CNIE, as well as some of the civil personnel involved in the cancelled project. Since the 1990s the new commission signed agreements with NASA and European agencies and has developed a number of Earth Observation satellites , including SAC-A,

1218-565: The new Scar 2.65 engines were tested for the first time, successfully recovering the capsules with their payloads in all cases, allowing the measurement of the altitude at which the separation occurred. On November 15, 27, and 30, Centauro rockets were launched, the last two for aeronomy purposes, all three launched from the CELPA Chamical base, La Rioja province. On December 8 and 9, Centauro rockets were launched again, also for aeronomy purposes and with successful results. Throughout that year,

1260-544: The optical range (SAC) and the other one in the microwave range ( SAOCOM ). The SAC series has been developed by the CONAE together with the Argentine company INVAP and a number of local universities, in close cooperation with the NASA. It has also included the participation of Brazil , Denmark , Italy and Germany . In 2019, five Argentine satellites have been launched: SAC-A, a technological demonstration satellite, SAC-B, which

1302-610: The promotion of advanced knowledge and innovative use of space information, it also aims at developing highly skilled human resources. It has been named in honor of former CONAE physicist Mario Gulich, who conceived the first Argentine satellite for scientific applications: the SAC-B. Mr. Gulich died in 1994. CONAE built a rocket test site at Las Pipinas, Punta Indio Partido ( 35°31′25″S 57°11′05″W  /  35.523496°S 57.1846139°W  / -35.523496; -57.1846139  ( Centro Espacial Punta Indio - Sector L ) ) in

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1344-580: The provision of information to lessen the consequences of natural disasters. CONAE, in July 2003, joined the International Charter 'Space and Major Disasters' , which aims to provide a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to those affected by natural or man-made disasters through authorized users. The agency secured an agreement with the European Space Agency on 24 June 2009, for

1386-671: The remaining facilities would be taken by the local government. The program, from the CNIE's side, was initially managed from the Argentine Air Force Condor Headquarters in Buenos Aires by EE Ingeniero Enrique Setaro. Upon the starting of the operational phase of the program the CNIE replaced him with an Air Force officer. During the 1970s, Argentina regularly launched the American two-stage solid-propellant Castor rocket up to 500 kilometers altitude. This rocket carried international experiments for several countries. In

1428-425: The rocket falling in the side of the launcher structure without any fire or explosion due to the rocket being loaded with only 460 kg of fuel for a short combustion in order to test the engine in flight for a few seconds, no material, human or environmental harm resulting. CONAE is actually operating a self developed airborne SAR called SARAT. The radar is capable of obtaining full polarimetric L-band data with

1470-737: The seas and how low-salinity river plumes affect hurricane intensity. Aquarius data was important to the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS), a year-long international field study of the oceanographic processes that sustain the maximum surface salinities in the central subtropical North Atlantic, and influence global ocean circulation. The Aquarius instrument successfully achieved its science objectives and completed its primary three-year mission in November 2014. On 7 June 2015 at 12:53:17 UTC, telemetry indicated

1512-440: The second stage was 1,173 mm long with 79.5 mm in diameter Main characteristics of the Beta Centauro sounding rocket were: Beta Centauro was first launched on September 30, 1961. The rocket as designated APEX-A1-S2-015 and aimed to experiment with the separation of the two stages and to test the measurements and instruments of the vehicle: flight speed, range, atmospheric pressure, among other parameters. The launch

1554-414: Was a single-stage rocket, launched in 1961 from Santo Tomás base. Beta Centauro followed the same year, demonstrating two-stage capability and leading to advancements in payload delivery and high altitude measurements. Further launches from Santo Tomás and CELPA Chamical refined rocketry techniques. Notably, the "sodium cloud" operation in 1963 provided valuable atmospheric data. The Gamma Centauro, also

1596-461: Was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center. It collected data from 25 August 2011 to 7 June 2015, exceeding its intended three year primary mission. Aquarius' mission was to demonstrate that accurate measurements of salinity could be made from space, and was the first spaceborne instrument to use both passive radiometers and active radar in the L band . By measuring ocean salinity, scientists are better able to understand

1638-526: Was devoted to scientific research, SAC-C, the first Earth Observation Satellite of Argentina, SAC-D and SAOCOM 1A. In this context, CONAE has joined efforts with NASA in the creation of the First International Earth Observation Constellation, with Argentine SAC-C and the U.S. Landsat 7 , EO-1 and Terra missions. The satellite launched by CONAE was SAC-D/Aquarius, which was launched on 10 June 10, 2011. It will carry

1680-641: Was successful, and the rocket reached an altitude of 25 km. On October 13, 1961, the Aerospace Institute conducted the second launch of the rocket ( APEX-A1-S2-016 ) at the same base. Another Centauro rocket was launched on May 10, 1962, coinciding with the start of activities at the CELPA base in Chamical, La Rioja. On February 19, 1962, five new launches were carried out from the Santo Tomás Base, where

1722-565: Was the first country in Latin America to send an object into space using an indigenously developed rocket. In October 1968, a committee of French studies (from the CNES) visited the airport to conduct a survey and trace maps and planes, planning to carrying out a bi-national project called EOLO that involved launching from three bases in Argentina ( Mendoza , Neuquén , and Tierra del Fuego ), small super pressure balloons which would be interrogated by

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1764-505: Was truly a pioneering effort to determine how accurately we could measure ocean salinity from space and for the first time study large and small-scale interactions of the global water cycle.” Aquarius principal investigator Gary Lagerloef of Earth & Space Research, Seattle. Aquarius provided information into the natural exchange of freshwater between the ocean, atmosphere and sea ice, which influences ocean circulation, weather and climate. Data from Aquarius showed how extreme floods affect

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