The Brazilian Space Diplomacy for Economic and Social Development from the Dawn of the Space Age to the Present Day

This contribution highlights key aspects and events of Brazil’s involvement in the space field, focusing on the ambitions of Space Diplomacy and Space Ben efits, and showing the links between these two areas. The major political and legal positions of Brazil are highlighted, as Space Benefits are: (1) used by all countries, even those that are less developed and not yet present in the space race; (2) used to reduce the divide between the center and the periphery of the world economy. Following this political position, it emerges that Brazil (in the space field but not only) is among the protagonists of the debate on the North– South question that developed in the 1970s, when the problem of creating a new and fairer international order was raised. Even when the Eighties-Nineties ush ered in globalization, Brazil’s space conception remained tied to the promotion of the poorest and the sharing of benefits. The passage of the space program into the hands of civilians gives rise to a broad advantage of agreements with other countries (and they begin to involve even private groups), aimed at putting space at the service of inclusive, socially, and territorially equitable development.