By Andreia Lobato | 2025-06-13

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil and China have taken another major step in their decades-long space partnership, officially enacting on June 9 a protocol to jointly develop the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS)‑6. The CBERS program is a Sino-Brazilian space venture.

The agreement, now published in Brazil's federal gazette, sets the stage for building and launching the next satellite in the CBERS series, a program that has long symbolized both countries' cooperation but increasingly raises questions about control, transparency and technological dependence.

Signed in Beijing in April 2023 and approved by Brazil's Congress last December, the protocol outlines how both countries will divide technical responsibilities. China will lead the development of a powerful synthetic aperture radar (SAR), while Brazil will handle the satellite's service module.

The launch, once again, will take place from Chinese territory, fueling an ongoing debate about the asymmetries embedded in Sino-Brazilian cooperation.

This development deepens scientific ties but reignites concerns. Scientists, civil society leaders and policy specialists warn of unresolved structural problems: Brazil's technological dependence and the social risks associated with space operations, particularly in Maranhão, one of the country's poorest states.

Brazil entered into space cooperation with China in the late 1980s. Since then, it has helped launch a series of Earth observation satellites under the CBERS program. Yet nearly 40 years later, the division of labor remains stark and unequal.

For the CBERS‑6, set for launch in 2028, China will handle the critical SAR, while Brazil is tasked with the less strategic service module. Final assembly and launch will take place on Chinese soil aboard a Long March rocket.

"Brazil acts more like an assembler than a developer," said a Brazilian space engineer, who asked to remain anonymous because of ties with a public institution. "Without serious national investment, we remain junior partners, with limited access to key technologies and even to the data our satellites produce."

Data disputes: the battle over CBERS‑5

While CBERS‑6 advances through bureaucratic channels, Brazil and China already are planning CBERS‑5, a satellite with new capabilities. Set for launch in 2030, CBERS‑5 will enter geostationary orbit, enabling constant monitoring of the same area on Earth. The satellite promises benefits in climate monitoring, defense and precision agriculture. But it presents a diplomatic challenge.

The issue is who will control the data.

Negotiations have stalled over Brazil's autonomy to access and process satellite output. Public documents refer to "joint use with mutual consent," but specialists in tech geopolitics warn this language is too vague. The absence of clear safeguards for sensitive data or of guarantees against third-party sharing has only intensified concerns.

Launchpad tensions in Alcântara

Another flashpoint is Brazil's proposal to let China use the Alcântara launch base in Maranhão. Technically attractive because of its proximity to the equator, the site has a darker legacy.

Since the 1980s, the government has displaced dozens of quilombola communities, descendants of enslaved Africans, to make room for the Alcântara Launch Center. More than 30 communities still fight for land rights, now threatened by new expansion plans.

Despite government promises to respect local rights, there have been no concrete steps toward fair compensation, dignified resettlement or the kind of free, prior and informed consultation that international norms require.

Transparency gaps and structural questions

What ties these issues together is a striking lack of transparency. Most agreements between Brazil and China bypass Congress and exclude civil society and national scientific bodies.

While the partnership has undeniably boosted Brazil's space credentials, deeper challenges remain: underinvestment, limited sovereignty over key decisions, neglected social impacts and little public oversight.

As Brazil prepares for future launches, analysts argue it must do more than celebrate milestones.

The real test lies in reshaping its space strategy from passive cooperation to proactive leadership, grounded in long-term planning, robust national investment and a true commitment to democratic accountability, said the space engineer who requested anonymity.