Patagonia's Satellite

Patagonia goes techno; in the city of Bariloche, the first argentine tele-watching satellite has been built.

The first argentine tele-observation satellite SAC-C is already orbiting. It was built at the Invap Labs, a company belonging to the Rio Negro government, with headquarters at the beautiful city of San Carlos de Bariloche.

Its main purpose is providing Argentina with surface imaging, used to close watch cultivations; in this way, the best moment for harvesting can be determined. The data gathered by this satellite will also be helpful to detect and fight plagues, estimate and foresee floods as well as to study the development of desert areas (a very important issue for Patagonia). And it will also help tracking the Southern Whale, whose migration routes are still unknown. The idea behind this is to better protect this species which is endangered.

Besides, the SAC-C has got advanced devices which perform geophysical and atmospheric research.

The total cost of the project was U$S 40 millions, half of which came from NASA, responsible for its operation in outer space.