Electronic Proceedings - United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

It is worth noting that the same Article 3, at § XII authorizes the AEB “to identifycommercial possibilities to utilize space technologies and applications in order to stimulateentrepreneurial initiatives, to render services or to produce goods”.In fact, this large competence gives the AEB the legal basis to lead, to a considerableextent, the plan of commercialization of Alcantara Launching Center (CLA), in which the useof Administrative Edicts can play an important role.AEB was founded as a federal autarchic, autonomous entity directly linked to thePresident of the Republic, but this link lasted less than a year. As soon as President FernandoHenrique Cardoso came to power, in 1995, he moved the AEB to the National Secretary ofStrategic Affairs (a kind of Ministry). Since 1999, the AEB has been within the Ministry ofScience and Technology. All AEB initiatives and decisions are, therefore, supervised andcontrolled by this Ministry.It engenders, by the way, a curious administrative framework. The AEB is managed by aPresident and a High Council, which has 17 members, including representatives of numerousMinistries. This way, insofar as the Ministry of Science and Technology supervises the AEB,it also stands above other Ministries, at least in relation to space matters – which, definitely, isnot a usual situation.Nevertheless, what is relevant to point out is that during some years the NationalSecretary of Strategic Affairs, and afterwards, the Ministry of Science and Technology,prepared together with the AEB a draft of a broad space legislation to be sent by the Presidentof the Republic to the National Congress. At that time, the Brazilian authorities wereconvinced that the main legal issues relating to private launching activities in Brazilianterritory could only be properly solved through a law approved by the National Congress(Chamber of Representatives and Senate). At that time, the AEB Administrative Edicts werenot considered an efficient solution, because of certain limitations: they cannot draft or set abudget of governmental expenses, as this is an exclusive prerogative of the National Congress.However, later on the authorities came to the conclusion that it would take too much time,maybe many years, until the National Congress would approve an all-embracing law on spaceactivities. Thus, they decided to make use of the AEB’s competence “to establish rules andissue licenses and authorizations regarding space activities”. This would have the convenienceof beginning right away the law-making process required by the pressing need to launchAlcantara into the world market. Brazil seemed to be in a hurry.Nevertheless, it does not mean at all that the Brazilian authorities have desisted from theproject of adopting a great space law passed by the National Congress. Just now the AEB ispreparing a draft law with this objective.4. Details on the Administrative EdictsBoth Administrative Edicts consist of two parts.The first part of both Edicts includes the formal AEB Presidential decision to approve theRegulation set forth in Article 1 and to establish that the AEB Office for Standards andLicensing “may enact complementary instructions aimed at the performance andadministrative actions” related, respectively, to the licensing and authorization procedures(Article 2) and to the authorization procedures.160