Brazilian President trumpets co-op in science, space with China

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday underlined the importance of cooperation in science, technology and space areas between China and her country, especially a project known as the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) Program. [Special coverage]

"We reaffirmed the commitment to launch, even in 2014, the CBERS-4 satellite. Our Space Plan supports the extension of that program, and we hope in the future we can launch CBERS satellites also from Brazil," Rousseff said after witnessing the signing of a series of deals and memoranda involving a range of fields such as technology, finance together with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday.

Brazil and China established in 1988 a joint committee for construction, launching and operation of satellites under the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) Program. With the program, the two countries are working together to gather information about topics ranging from the Earth's environment, agriculture, urban development planning to water pollution.

The Brazilian Space Agency confirmed in March the launch of the CBERS-4 satellite is expected to take place in the first half of December in China.

The satellite, which is said to be equipped with more modern cameras to observe the Earth, will be used to capture images so as to monitor the environment efficiently and to better manage agricultural resources for Brazil. The space cooperation program is considered as part of the Brazilian government's efforts to reduce its independence on U.S. and European space equipment.

China and Brazil have also agreed to cooperate in building the CBERS-5 satellite, which is expected to be launched in 2017.