Brazil’s space research institute, a source of national pride, is struggling for survival

Carefully stowed away in a locker, Evlyn Novo keeps a collection of framed plaques honoring her time as a researcher at the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research . Novo joined the institute as a young remote sensing specialist in 1975 to work on a pioneering effort to use satellite data to monitor deforestation in the Amazon. Over her career, she helped INPE develop into one of the flagships of Brazilian science—a global leader in watching tropical forests from space.

Today, Brazil’s monitoring programs for deforestation and wildfires are imperiled, the supercomputer that runs climate models is aging and unreliable, and INPE’s satellite development program is on hold, lacking funds to advance planned missions and launches. A beacon of Brazil’s scientific prowess has become a symbol of science’s struggle for survival there, in an underfunded and politically menacing environment.

An image from the Amazonia-1 satellite shows a dark island of rainforest in the Parakanã Indigenous Territory in Para state, surrounded by fields and pastures. Monitoring deforestation has helped Brazil protect the Amazon.Data from PRODES and DETER helped Brazil create and enforce policies that were key to reducing annual deforestation in the Amazon by 82% between 2004 and 2014.

The decline accelerated after Bolsonaro took office, despite his campaign promises to prioritize science. His government cut M CTI’s overall budget by 35% in the first 3 years of his administration, to 8.3 billion reais . Despite a partial recovery this year, after Congress banned the government from freezing FNDCT funds, MCTI’s overall budget for this year is still 34% smaller than 5 years ago, not counting inflation.

The cash crunch creates other problems as well. After 12 years, Tupã is on its last legs. Processors frequently get overheated, circuit breaks are not uncommon, and the institute can barely afford the electricity to run the computer.

To save on LIT’s formidable electricity bill, INPE has reduced its operations, shutting down cleanrooms from time to time. The room where spacecraft were assembled now houses the skeleton of a satellite, built from spare pieces of the Amazonia-1, “to show off to visiting politicians and journalists,” an employee tells. LIT has long tested products for industry on the side, such as cars, phones, and even bathtubs; today that is practically all it does.

Younger scientists see little future there. Digital ecologist Thiago Silva did his postdoctoral research at INPE between 2010 and 2013, using satellite data to study wetland dynamics in the Amazon. Working under Novo, he was one of two contenders selected to be hired by the institute in 2012. He turned down the offer, fearing he might end up isolated and without enough money—or even colleagues—to continue his work in the long term.

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