La investigación espacial latinoamericana. Cooperación y desarrollo

Space research, due to the requirements to apply solutions of the highest possi-ble degree of scientific excellence, is a source of diffusion of knowledge and in-novation into other fields of science and industry, but at the same time requires enormous financial resources, often exceeding the capabilities of Latin American countries, whose national budgets on science and technology are much smaller while compared to those of advanced economies. Currently, the national states are in need of the use of increasingly complex and more expensive technologies in space industry given the needs of public policies of various kinds. With such a sophisticated technological market and where the manufacture of satellites and launchers is a monopoly of a few countries, the acquisition and management of those resources pose a big challenge, on the one hand in terms of competition on a global scale which is inevitable and on the other, of strengthening cooperation on investigations with foreign partners. The article presents a state of the art on Latin American space development, finding that the two most developed countries in the field are Argentina and Brazil, while more countries of the region have different degrees of development. It is concluded that Latin American space research is an effective mechanism for the construction of scientific links among the countries of the region, as well as of international collaboration and economic development.