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The new test in Alcântara involves a Brazilian state-owned company and a South Korean company, amid attempts to expand the commercial use of the base and the sensitive history of the national space program.
The Brazilian state-owned company ALADA and the South Korean aerospace company INNOSPACE announced on July 3, 2026, a test flight of the suborbital rocket SEBIT from the Alcântara Launch Center in Maranhão.
The mission is scheduled to take place in 2026 and aims to evaluate performance, operational readiness, and vehicle reliability without placing a payload in orbit.
The agreement is the first contract of ALADA, Empresa de Projetos Aeroespaciais do Brasil S.A., with a foreign company for this type of operation.
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The state-owned company works to bridge the gap between Brazilian aerospace infrastructure and the market, including services related to preparation, launch, and tracking of vehicles and payloads, according to institutional information released by the federal government and the Brazilian Air Force.
The test launch will be conducted at the CLA in Alcântara, a structure used by the Brazilian space program for research missions, technological tests, and operations with suborbital and orbital vehicles.
The center is located on the coast of Maranhão and is operated within the framework of Brazilian aerospace infrastructure.
SEBIT Rocket to Have Suborbital Flight in Alcântara
The SEBIT is a multipurpose suborbital rocket developed by INNOSPACE for scientific experiments, technology validation, and payload testing.
According to the company, the vehicle uses a 3-ton class hybrid engine and is designed to reach altitudes above 50 kilometers, with real-time transmission of position and payload data during the flight.
In a suborbital flight, the rocket reaches a high altitude but does not remain in orbit around the Earth.
This type of mission is used to evaluate components, observe the behavior of systems under specific flight conditions, and gather technical data for subsequent development stages.
INNOSPACE states that the SEBIT was designed for microgravity environment simulation, functional testing of scientific payloads and space components, as well as technology validation in high-speed and high-altitude scenarios.
The company claims that the platform also integrates its strategy to expand services aimed at testing and verification, in addition to satellite launches.
The contract stipulates that the first flight will serve to validate the rocket’s performance and generate engineering information.
This data will be used by the South Korean company itself to guide adjustments to the vehicle and the service model offered to research institutions and commercial clients, according to information released by the company.
ALADA and Commercial Use of the Alcântara Launch Center
ALADA states that one of its roles is to commercially exploit launch centers, mediating clients’ access to ground facilities and the operational support necessary for space missions.
The state-owned company also engages in the management of aerospace projects and the commercialization of products and services in the sector, according to institutional material.
The creation of the public company is part of the reorganization of Brazilian commercial activities in the space sector.
In an institutional publication, the Brazilian Air Force reported that ALADA was conceived to connect the Union’s launch infrastructure to the demands of national and international companies.
According to CNN Brasil, the Brazilian company was handling more than 20 confidentiality agreements.
Such documents are used in negotiations involving the exchange of technical, operational, or commercial information under confidentiality between the parties.
The SEBIT announcement, however, does not concern an orbital operation.
The declared focus of the flight is to test the rocket in a suborbital mission and gather performance data.
The distinction is relevant because orbital launches require speed, trajectory, authorizations, and the ability to insert payloads into orbit.
INNOSPACE Has Already Conducted a Previous Operation in Maranhão
INNOSPACE had previously used Alcântara in earlier operations.
In December 2025, the HANBIT-Nano rocket, also from the South Korean company, took off from the Maranhão center on a commercial mission but crashed shortly after launch.
Reuters reported that the vehicle fell within a previously defined safety area and that there were no injuries.
The mission, called Spaceward, had payloads on board, including small satellites and experiments.
According to Reuters, the launch occurred after a series of postponements and ended without achieving the company’s intended goal.
Agência Brasil had reported, before the takeoff, that INNOSPACE postponed the launch to replace components after identifying an anomaly in the cooling system of the first stage during the final inspection.
The exchange allowed the continuation of preparation within the launch window announced at the time.
This history does not alter the announced objective for SEBIT, which was presented as a suborbital testing and validation platform.
The HANBIT-Nano, in turn, is part of the line of vehicles aimed at orbital missions with satellites, according to information released by the company itself.
2003 Tragedy Marked Brazilian Space Program
The Alcântara Launch Center is also associated with the deadliest accident in the Brazilian space program.
On August 22, 2003, a VLS rocket, Satellite Launch Vehicle, was destroyed during preparations for Operation São Luís.
The episode left 21 dead, including engineers, technicians, mechanics, and cameramen.
The official investigation report, prepared within the Ministry of Defense and the Air Force Command, recorded that the third prototype of the VLS-1 V03 was destroyed by a fire in the early afternoon of that day, during preparation for launch, in Alcântara, Maranhão.
The 2003 mission intended to place two Brazilian satellites into orbit: the meteorological microsatellite SATEC, from the National Institute for Space Research, and the nanosatellite UNOSAT, from the North University of Paraná.
The accident occurred three days before the scheduled launch.
After the accident, the Brazilian program underwent changes, delays, and new attempts to resume operations in Alcântara.
In the following years, the center continued to be mentioned in national projects and cooperation agreements aimed at using the launch infrastructure.
The new SEBIT test enters this scenario as a suborbital operation contracted by a foreign company with the Brazilian state company.
The mission still depends on the necessary technical, regulatory, and operational steps for the launch.
Without an exact date disclosed by the companies, the forecast remains limited to the second half of 2026, with the Alcântara Launch Center indicated as the location of the operation.
So far, the publicly available information indicates that the flight will aim for technical validation and data collection.
