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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Mexico to Start Commercial Space Program

Mexico will create its own space center launch facilities on the Yucatan Peninsula to be built near the city of Chetumal on about 30 hectares of land coming upon the approval of Mexico’s lower-chamber of Congress, la Camara de Diputados. The new agency operations will be housed in the state of Hidalgo. The proposal now goes to President Felipe Calderon for final approval.

In 2008, the Mexican parliament approved the creation of a Mexican space agency (Agencia Espacial Mexicana - AEXA). The initiative was put forward in 2007 by NASA's Hernandez, whose father emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico. The structure of Mexico's space agency will be similar to that of NASA. The initial cost of the project is estimated at $80 million.

El astronauta José Hernández has volunteered to help start Mexico's space agency. He is the U.S.-born son of Mexican migrant farm workers.

Russia and Mexico signed an agreement on cooperation in space research and exploration for peaceful purposes in 1996. In March 2009, a delegation of experts from Russian space agency Roscosmos visited with Russian space experts syaing they were ready to help Mexico develop its national space program on a commercial basis.

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