Brasília – This Tuesday (29th), Telebras and Embraer have signed a shareholders agreement establishing Visiona Tecnologia Espacial S.A., the company in charge of building the first Brazilian geostationary satellite. The equipment will be used in telecommunication and national defence. Embraer will be the majority shareholder with a 51% stake, and Telebras will own 49%.
The satellite will fulfil the federal government’s satellite communication needs, including the National Broadband Program, as well as strategic defence communication. The company Visiona will be based in the São José dos Campos Technology Park, in the state of São Paulo, where it will also command the Spatial Technology Development Centre.
The satellite construction project has an estimated cost of 716 million reals (US$ 360 million) and the government is expecting to launch the satellite into orbit in 2014. Geostationary satellites remain above one single spot of the Earth.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
