Alcântara Launch Center 2.6

The Alcântara Launch Center is a satellite launching base of the Brazilian Space Agency in the city of Alcântara, located on Brazil's northern Atlantic coast, in the state of Maranhão. It is operated by the Brazilian Air Force . The CLA is the closest launching base to the equator. This gives the launch site a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites, an attribute shared by the Guiana Space Centre.Construction of the base began in 1982. The first launch occurred on February 21, 1990, when the sounding rocket Sonda 2 XV-53 was launched.So far, only sounding rockets and VLS rockets have been launched from Alcântara. On August 22, 2003, the explosion of the third VLS-1 killed 21 people.There are also plans to launch several international rockets from Alcântara. In 2003 contracts were signed to launch Ukrainian Tsyklon-4 and Israeli Shavit rockets; In addition there are further plans to launch the Russian Proton rocket.