RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian
government is to bid 700 million reais (385 million U.S. dollars) for the
concession of a space orbit strategic to South America, an official said Monday.
"We need that orbital position," said Helio Costa,
Brazil's Minister of Telecommunications, in an interview with a local newspaper
Monday.
Costa will have a meeting Tuesday in Geneva,
Switzerland, with representatives from Colombia, Bolivia and Peru to solve the
impasse concerning the concession of the so-called orbit 68.
The meeting is to be convened by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The exploitation of the orbit was conceded to the
Andean countries seven years ago. However, they had to launch a satellite by
Sept. 2007 in order to keep the concession, which they failed to accomplish,
said the minister.
According to international rules on space
exploration, other countries could bid for the orbit if the deadline expires.
But Colombia, Peru and Bolivia are struggling for a
time extension, which they claimed would allow them to launch their own
satellite.
Other countries have also demonstrated an interest in
the orbit.
In a partnership with Uruguay, Venezuela is seeking
authorization from the ITU to launch into the orbit its first Simon Bolivar
satellite, said the newspaper.
