Advances for the mission of the first central American satellite: The role of the government, industry and academia of Costa Rica

The Central American Association for Aeronautics and Space (ACAE, in Spanish) continues to work towards inspiring the Central American human talent with the objective of integrating the region in the technological paradigm of aerospace development. In 2012, ACAE announced to the national and international media its intentions to develop the first Central American satellite, a one unit CubeSat, planned to be completely designed and built by Costa Rican students and academic staff. The planned device will retransmit daily values of environmental data of interest for the Government of Costa Rica, measured by a system of sensors located in different test areas of the Costa Rican territory. Such information is of special interest for scientists and political decision-makers on climate change issues, and the mission is aligned with the national goal of become the first carbon-neutral country of the world. The long term goal is to use this experience to implement similar solutions in other nations with same necessities or to provide complimentary services to the RED++ initiatives. Since the 63th edition of the International Astronautical Congress, ACAE has shown to the world's scientific community the progress and achievements of this project, letting them track the process and measure its impact in a middle-income country with no previous experience in the development of space projects like the Republic of Costa Rica. In 2013, ACAE signed agreements with the President of the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR), and the Costa Rican Engineering Federation (CFIA). Furthermore, ACAE developed the concept of the mission under the support of Ad Astra Rocket Company, a Costa Rican-American aerospace company owned by the former US astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz. In 2014 a keystone success was reached, when ACAE announced the official support of the - nowadays former - President of the Republic of Costa Rica, Ms. Laura Chinchilla Miranda, who declared the project of public interest in the Decree 38340-MINAE-MICITT (also signed by the Minister of Environment and Energy and the Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications of Costa Rica). The President commanded support for this project to the public and private organizations of the country. So far, the mission and requirements of the project have been defined, and the preliminary design stage of the CubeSat is in progress. This paper will explain the advances of the mission and the remarkable role of the government, industry and academia of Costa Rica, supporting the project and outreaching its impact in the civil society.