On April 8th, the new Draft Law for the Creation of the Costa Rican Space Agency was presented in the Legislative Assembly. Legislator Aida María Montiel will be in charge of commanding the project that aims to promote this initiative in the country.
The activity will take place at 4:00 p.m. and will focus on explaining the scope of the legislative proposal. Additionally, three exhibitors will be discussing the needs of the sector from the perspective of private companies and academia. The forum will allow the creation of a network of people interested in this initiative.
Ronald Chang, civil engineer and founder of the Central American Association of Aeronautics and Space, is one of the pioneers in the space matter in the country, along with his brother, Franklin Chang.
Chang exhaustively promotes spatial education and was even in charge of sending the first Costa Rican satellite to space. In a talk of TEDx Joven, the engineer argues and exposes the importance of advancing this area.
Background
– From 1999 to 2004, Franklin Chang promotes an internship program at NASA for young Ticos.
– In 2006, Franklin Chang surprises with his plasma engine. In addition, the Space Systems Laboratory of the School of Electronics, of the Technological Institute of Costa Rica, was created.
– In 2008, Franklin Chang designs an infuser to make medicines; two TEC students make it a reality and turn it into a space coffee maker.
– On April 2nd, 2018, aboard a Dragon CRS-14 spacecraft powered by a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the first Costa Rican satellite was launched into space. It was the Irazú Project, a satellite that was built by the Central American Association of Aeronautics and Space and the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC). It was a tiny satellite, a 10 cm3 cube with a weight of one kilogram.