The Mexican Space Agency (AEM), a decentralized agency of the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), formalized the participation of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in the joint project with NASA through the signing of an agreement ( National Aeronautics and Space Administration), “AztechSat Constellation”, announced on August 31.

The General Director of the AEM, Salvador Landeros Ayala, explained that, by virtue of this instrument, UNAM will develop one of the project’s satellites, and expressed being “a reason for great pride and satisfaction, that the nation’s university participates in this visionary project, laying the groundwork for more far-reaching projects towards space exploration.”

He added that it is an opportunity for young people, researchers, scientists and professors, with their great talent, to get involved in projects at the frontier of knowledge, and expressed his conviction that, with the experience of UNAM, this project will be a successful example collaboration in the international community.

The Coordinator of the University Space Program (PEU-UNAM), Dr. José Francisco Valdés Galicia, thanked the AEM for the invitation, and explained that commercial hardware and free software will be used for the satellite that UNAM will develop, and databases will be generated. data for monitoring and protection of marine species, accessible to government, academic, and civil society organizations.

“AztechSat Constellation is a complex project that will require the effort, talent and creativity of many people, for which we recognize the commitment of the UNAM authorities to promote and support scientific and technological research of excellence in order to consolidate the development of Mexico. , and contribute to the sustainable progress of humanity”, said the General Coordinator of Human Capital Training of AEM, Carlos Duarte Muñoz.

For his part, the Director of the Institute of Astronomy-UNAM, Dr. José de Jesús González González, said that “UNAM actively contributes and supports space development in Mexico, and we celebrate the invitation to participate in the AztechSat Constellation, where , from the design itself, in the development and integration in management of space projects”.

The Coordinator of Scientific Research at UNAM, Dr. William Lee Alardín, specified that the Institutes of Astronomy, Geophysics, Geography, and the Faculty of Engineering, articulated through PEU-UNAM, will participate in the development of the AztechSat constellation, to enhance the capabilities of the different entities around this space exploration satellite.

He stressed that “This project is a very fortunate combination of capacities and institutions, with advantages in both basic and applied research and generation of technology, as well as in the formation of human capital, since these projects are evolving and the learning that remains, the most important, it is that of people, capacity building, for projects that continue”.

To conclude, Landeros Ayala thanked the Rector of UNAM, Enrique Graue Wiechers, and his team for their great vision, while underlining that space offers technology and innovation, both for priority tasks such as protecting fauna and our planet, and for discovering the mysteries of the universe.

Source: Mexico Space Agency