Brasília, July 8, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Brush and forest fires in the Amazon will be monitored this year in areas of up to six square kilometers by a satellite launched by Brazil last October in China. This information was provided by the Minister of Science and Technology, Eduardo Campos, during an interview for the National Radio of Amazônia. The Minister assured that, when a modification is detected in a specific area of the forest, be it a hot spot or deforestation, the satellite will immediately transmit the data to the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), through the National Institute of Space Research (Inpe).

Campos also informed that the Amazônia Biotechnology Center (CBA), inaugurated in December, 2002, "will receive duly contracted and operational staff in the next 60 days." Regarding the Alcântara Satellite Launching Base, in the state of Maranhão, he said that everything is programmed for the next launch to occur in July, 2006. "Brazil will be among the 10 countries in the world that have advanced space programs," he guaranteed.

Digital inclusion was another item broached by the Minister, who underscored the federal government's effort to get computer manufacturers to reduce the price of computers. Completing the picture, according to Campos, are "the gradual use of free software," special credit lines to enable teachers in the interior to purchase computers, and the installation of telecenters, equipped with broadband internet access, in the most remote regions of the Amazon and the Northeast.

PROGRAM

The new president of the Brazilian Space Agency, Maurício Guadenzi, a civil engineer, is already involved in the reactivation of the Alcântara Launching Base, according to Campos, in order to meet the end-of-the-year 2006 deadline set by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil's space program is ongoing, he said. As an example, he cited activities related to climate and weather. "Satellites play a direct role, not always perceived, in the lives of citizens, when they favor giving support to agribusiness and family farming and reducing crop insurance, as well as their importance to learning at a distance, medicine, and national security."

Campos also commented that over 150 institutes from all over the world are interested in buying from China and Brazil images taken by the satellite launched in October. And he guaranteed that the images of the Amazon will be for domestic use.

Reporter: Eduardo Mancasz
Translator: David Silberstein