Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket launched two Earth remote sensing radar satellites developed by FAB (Brazilian Air Force). The launch took place this Wednesday (May 25), around 3:30 pm, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.

Space X Falcon 9 rocket launch — Photo: Disclosure/Space X/ND

The equipment, named Carcará I and Carcará II, is part of the FAB Lessonia 1 project and consists of the acquisition of a constellation of low-orbit satellites.

They will be used by Censipam (the Center for Control and Operation of the Amazon Defense System), operated jointly by the military and government agencies.

According to the FAB, the equipment uses an active detection sensor capable of generating high-resolution images that can be obtained at any time of the day or night, regardless of weather conditions, since the signal passes through the clouds.

“The idea is to secure borders and fight drug trafficking, illegal mining and forest fires. It will also be possible to monitor natural disasters and update maps of the Amazon region,” the Air Force said. Each satellite is one cubic meter in size and weighs about 100 kilograms (kg) in addition to five solar panels.

Space X is a company owned by American billionaire Elon Musk that operates in the commercial space launch market. The businessman is also the president of Tesla, the largest electric vehicle manufacturer on the planet.

SpaceX Elon Musk

Musk was in Brazil last Friday (20) and met with President Jair Bolsonaro, ministers and businessmen. At the meeting, they talked about the partnership between the Brazilian government and the Starlink suborbital communications project associated with Space X.

Musk said the idea is to connect 19,000 Brazilian schools with a satellite internet system.