Bolivian Space Agency
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The Bolivian Space Agency ( es, Agencia Boliviana Espacial, ABE) is the national
space agency This is a list of government agencies engaged in activities related to outer space and space exploration. As of 2022, 77 different government space agencies are in existence, 16 of which have launch capabilities. Six government space agencies ...
of
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
. Established in 2010, the agency is responsible for developing and implementing
communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Ear ...
programs and other space projects. On 20 December 2013, the ABE oversaw the launch of the nation's first artificial satellite,
Túpac Katari 1 Túpac Katari 1 or TKSat-1 is a telecommunications satellite that the government of Bolivia outsourced to People's Republic of China (PRC) to serve telecommunications in Bolivia, such as mobile, television and Internet use. It was launched into or ...
. The satellite began operating the following year, providing
telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...
services to rural Bolivia.


History

On 10 February 2010,
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to ...
signed a decree establishing the Bolivian Space Agency as a
government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Works, Services and Housing. The agency was tasked with promoting and developing
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...
projects, and implementing their application in education, health and
weather forecasting Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th centu ...
programs. The ABE began with a modest initial budget of
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1million, with the Bolivian government planning to seek further funding through donations and loans from China and other countries.


Túpac Katari 1

The agency oversaw the launch of
Túpac Katari 1 Túpac Katari 1 or TKSat-1 is a telecommunications satellite that the government of Bolivia outsourced to People's Republic of China (PRC) to serve telecommunications in Bolivia, such as mobile, television and Internet use. It was launched into or ...
—Bolivia's first
artificial satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisoto ...
—on 20 December 2013. The
communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Ear ...
was named for
Túpac Katari Túpac Katari or Catari (also Túpaj Katari) (c. 1750 – November 13, 1781), born Julián Apasa Nina, was the indigenous Aymara leader of a major insurrection in colonial-era Upper Peru (now Bolivia), laying siege to La Paz for six months. His ...
, an 18th-century
Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
native who led a rebellion against the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
. The satellite was built by Great Wall Industrial Corporation at a cost of US$302 million, 85% of which was provided by a
China Development Bank The China Development Bank (CDB) () is a development bank in the People's Republic of China (PRC), led by a cabinet minister at the Governor level, under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council. As one of three policy banks in China, it ...
loan. It was launched into orbit from the
Xichang Satellite Launch Center The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC), also known as the Xichang Space Center, is a spaceport of China. It is located in Zeyuan Town (), approximately northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan. The facility ...
in China. Túpac Katari 1 began operation in March 2014. According to President Morales, the satellite would lower the cost of Internet, television and phone services in the country. The satellite also improved communications access in rural parts of the country, providing remote education (via
teleconferencing A teleconference is the live exchange of information among several people remote from one another but linked by a telecommunications system. Terms such as audio conferencing, telephone conferencing and phone conferencing are also sometimes used ...
and
educational television Educational television or learning television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable televis ...
) and telemedicine programs. The director of the Bolivian Space Agency, Iván Zambrana, reported in 2018 that the satellite's services had raised over US$80million in the first four years of operation. According to Zambrana, this amount of revenue exceeded the agency's expectations, and would allow the satellite to be fully paid off within fifteen years.


See also

* Bolivia–China relations *
List of government space agencies This is a list of government agencies engaged in activities related to outer space and space exploration. As of 2022, 77 different government space agencies are in existence, 16 of which have launch capabilities. Six government space agencie ...


References


External links

* {{authority control 2010 establishments in Bolivia Government agencies of Bolivia Science and technology in Bolivia Space agencies