Brazil has announced plans to partner with California-based SpaceX to transmit “high-quality communications” from the floating Amazon forest in the Pacific Ocean.
Officials are evaluating an option where satellites in Earth orbit will transmit data to the floating forest. This may be used for weather tracking, air traffic control and forest monitoring.
According to authorities, the satellite system is expected to begin operations by the end of the year, and might provide a path to modernizing and upgrading the critical infrastructure it owns.
The news was reported by El Pais and stated that Brazil has already ordered ground equipment that will enable the transmission.
The new launch tech may be the key to expanding Brazil’s Cerrado region, the largest, least-industrialized area of the Amazon. The low-lying ground cover is ideal for forest planting and could provide commercial services for companies interested in using the forest to track their investments.
According to a statement from Brazil’s Space Agency, the new plan is also meant to expand industry on other islands like Eruku, where Amazonian farmers were left out of a more recent experiment.
Brazil’s use of space technology is growing as it continues to fight poverty and cement its military might. The newest satellite technology could help the country find a way to continue this modernization, and could also be a potential boost to the economy in a region plagued by rampant illegal mining and oil exploration.
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