By Roberto Morejón
In the midst of so many economic and social problems that Latin America is going through, it may have seemed curious to many that a meeting on space issues was held in the area.
However, several countries of the subcontinent attach great importance to such matters, hence the third meeting of the Space Agencies of the members of IILA, the Italian-Latin American Institute, on space governance was held in Santiago de Chile.
Italy is not the only resource country with links to Latin America, as China stands out, with emphasis on collaboration in the Joint Action Plan with CELAC for 2022-2024.
Although the United States inserts China's rapprochement in its rivalry with the Asian giant, the latter maintains its interest, of a peaceful nature, in the joint work with the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency, established in Mexico.
China has developed its ties with several countries, such as Brazil, for the joint launching of six satellites, and with Bolivia, with a view to preparing a communications device.
Argentina also accompanies China given the high level of its native scientists, now worried by the spending cuts of the ultra-right-wing President Javier Milei.
Further north, in Central America, Nicaragua and Costa Rica have modest plans, as the countries with fewer resources are committed to space technologies.
They seek to meet the challenges of development, gather information to guide crops, help industry and prevent natural disasters.
Of course, the existing inequality on the planet affects the aspirations of the global South, including Latin America.
There are almost 80 space agencies on Earth and only 16 have the appropriate technology to launch satellites, a group that Mexico has joined.
Mexico was the first country in Latin America to send microrobots to the Moon through the Colmena mission, which managed to cross the orbit, fulfilled 75 percent of its objectives and is now aiming for a second mission in 2027.
The project was developed at the Space Instrumentation Laboratory of the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico.
To this and other achievements contributes the exchange of knowledge between scientists from countries of the global South with their colleagues from the exclusive club headed by nations of the industrialized North and booming economies such as China.
