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BRICS+ countries boost a multipolar space race that breaks the old duopoly between the United States and Russia. China operates the Tiangong station, India landed on the lunar south pole with Chandrayaan-3, Iran develops its own launchers, and Brazil and South Africa expand investments in satellites. The block combines independent launches, global navigation, and shared lunar initiatives.
The BRICS countries are redrawing the power map of space in record time. For decades, the United States and Russia held an almost absolute duopoly over orbital dominance, but the aggressive entry of nations like China, India, and Iran into the sector is forcing a reconfiguration that analysts are already calling a multipolar space race. China operates its Tiangong space station and advances in asteroid mining projects, while India consolidated its capability by landing the Chandrayaan-3 probe on the lunar south pole in August 2023, a feat that no other country had achieved before. Iran is developing national launch vehicles despite international sanctions, and Brazil and South Africa are increasing investments in Earth observation satellites and their own launch infrastructure.
What the BRICS countries are building goes beyond the sum of national space programs. The BRICS+ block, which includes Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, combines independent launch systems, global satellite navigation networks, orbital constellations, and initiatives for shared lunar stations. Russia, which was already a historical space power, is expanding bilateral and trilateral partnerships with the new actors, promoting technology transfer that reinforces the collective sovereignty of the group. The result is an alternative space structure that drastically reduces dependence on Western technology and offers BRICS countries capabilities that only the United States and Europe previously controlled.
What each BRICS country is doing in space
According to information from the portal ocafezinho, China is the most advanced member of BRICS in the space domain. The Tiangong station, placed in orbit in parts over the last few years, is a direct alternative to the United States-led International Space Station, and allows China to conduct orbital research with total autonomy. Chinese lunar projects focus on the poles of the natural satellite, where detected water ice could support future human bases, and asteroid mining has entered the agenda as a long-term economic frontier.
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India has marked its place among the great space powers with Chandrayaan-3. The successful landing at the lunar south pole in 2023 was the first in history, placing India alongside the United States, Russia, and China as nations capable of operating on the lunar surface. Iran is developing national launch vehicles in response to international sanctions aimed at containing its program, and the success of these launches demonstrates that embargoes can accelerate technological autonomy rather than paralyze it. Brazil and South Africa, founding members of BRICS, are expanding their own observation satellites and launch infrastructure.
How BRICS Countries Compete with the United States’ Artemis Program
The competition for lunar prominence is one of the most visible dimensions of the space race between BRICS and the West. The Artemis program, led by the United States, aims to return astronauts to the Moon and establish a permanent presence on the natural satellite, and has attracted traditional American allies. On the opposite side, China promotes the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), an alternative initiative that has already attracted participation from Pakistan, South Africa, and Belarus, along with Russian cooperation.
What is most interesting is that multiple BRICS members maintain simultaneous engagement with both lunar projects. This stance demonstrates a sophisticated strategic calculation: BRICS countries do not want to choose between the United States and China; they prefer to preserve autonomy while expanding access to advanced capabilities from both sides. For nations that have historically been forced to align with one power or the other, this flexibility is a significant diplomatic achievement made possible by the multipolar structure of space.
The Satellite Network Being Built by BRICS Countries
In addition to lunar projects, BRICS countries are advancing orbital infrastructure that redefines global access to space services. China has signed dozens of agreements with African nations for the deployment of satellite networks and ground tracking stations, creating a technological dependency that directly competes with American and European offerings on the continent. This expansion combines commercial interest with geopolitical strategy: whoever controls the satellites a country uses controls a significant part of its communication and observation infrastructure.
India collaborates on climate monitoring, satellite internet, and lunar exploration with various partners, consolidating its position as a provider of space services for developing countries that do not want to rely exclusively on Western companies. The combination of BRICS satellite constellations offers an alternative to American GPS, European Galileo, and Russian GLONASS, creating independent navigation systems that strengthen the digital sovereignty of member countries and external partners.
The Challenges That the BRICS Space Race Brings to Global Governance
The rise of BRICS countries in space has consequences that go far beyond technology. The militarization of space, new orbital governance regimes, the competition for lunar resources, and the definition of legal protections for satellites are issues that were previously decided almost exclusively between the United States and Russia, and now need to include a dozen countries with different interests and approaches. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty needs updating, but negotiations have become more complex.
The cooperation models advocated by BRICS countries tend to treat space as a common good of humanity, in contrast to security-oriented approaches that characterize Western initiatives often aligned with military and technological control interests. This philosophical divergence is significant: it defines how lunar resources will be exploited, who will have the right to launch satellite constellations without interfering with others, and how orbital disputes will be resolved. BRICS proposes a more inclusive space, which clashes with the “first come, first served” logic that benefits the already established.
What BRICS in space means for Brazil
For Brazil, the multipolar space race of BRICS is a rare opportunity to position itself in an advanced technological domain without relying exclusively on traditional powers. The country is strengthening national satellite programs, increasing integration within BRICS, and demonstrating diplomatic interest in partnerships for lunar exploration and orbital stations, a stance that positions it as a desired partner by the main members of the bloc.
The sustained momentum of BRICS countries’ efforts points to a global space system where a network of interdependent actors shapes rules, explores resources, and drives scientific innovation. For Brazil, which has historically depended on partnerships with the United States and Europe for access to space, the multipolarity of BRICS offers alternatives that can accelerate the development of the national space program. Cooperation among bloc members demonstrates that multipolarity does not represent fragmentation, but a concrete construction of a more balanced order in outer space, where historically marginalized countries begin to occupy a central role.
BRICS countries are breaking the dominance of the United States and Russia in space with lunar projects and their own launchers. Do you think this multipolar space race is positive? Should Brazil deepen its involvement in BRICS space? Leave your opinion in the comments.
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