Wikimapia is a multilingual open-content collaborative map, where anyone can create place tags and share their knowledge.

Alcântara Launch Center (Alcântara)

Brazil / Maranhao / Alcantara / Alcântara / MA 106 Road
 spaceport  Add category

The Brazilian Space Agency's satellite launch centre, operated by the Brazilian Air Force. It is the launch site closest to the equator which gives it a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites (but see also the Guiana Space Centre). Construction began in 1982. The first launch occurred on February 21, 1990, when the sounding rocket Sonda 2 XV-53 was launched. As of 2019-03 only sounding rockets and VLS rockets have been launched from Alcântara. On August 22, 2003, the explosion of the third VLS-1 (XV-03) killed 21 people. -Adapted from Wikipedia.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   2°20'10"S   44°23'28"W
This article was last modified 6 years ago