VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1263/01 3371749
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 031749Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0139
INFO MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
MISSILE TECHNOLOGY CONTROL REGIME COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001263 
 
SIPDIS 
FOR ISN/MTR - PAM DURHAM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/03 
TAGS: MTCRE PARM PREL MNUC ETTC TSPA AR
SUBJECT: MTCR: UPDATE ON ARGENTINA'S SPACE LAUNCH VEHICLE (SLV) 
PROGRAM 
 
REF: STATE 01759 
  
 CLASSIFIED BY: Thomas P. Kelly, DCM, State, EXEC; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
  
 ¶1. (C) Summary:  ESTHCouns met on December 2 with Conrado Varotto, 
 Executive Director of CONAE (the Argentine space agency), to 
 discuss the latest developments in Argentina's space launch vehicle 
 (SLV) program (reftel).  Varotto reported three unsuccessful ground 
 tests of the SLV engine and said that a fourth would take place 
 shortly.  He reiterated his commitment to full transparency about 
 the SLV program.  Varotto also expressed serious concerns about 
 recent developments that could force CONAE to share part of or even 
 surrender its Cordoba space center for the fabrication of military 
 solid fuel rockets, a project allegedly pushed by Planning Minister 
 Julio De Vido.  Varotto said he had asked Foreign Minister Jorge 
 Taiana to personally appeal to President Cristina Fernandez de 
 Kirchner (CFK) and explain that to share the space center with 
 military fabrication would spell the end of Argentina's civilian 
 space program.  End Summary. 
  
  
  
 ¶2. (C) Varotto first provided updates on the development of the 
 SLV.  So far, he said, CONAE had conducted three tests of the 
 engine on the ground, all three unsuccessful, with a fourth test 
 planned for mid-December.  The engine exploded in the first two 
 tests, due to liquid fuel leaks, and failed on the third, due to 
 materials problems with the exhaust.  Varotto noted that CONAE has 
 no intention of attempting a launch until the engine is thoroughly 
 and successfully tested on the ground. 
  
  
  
 ¶3. (C) Varotto also informed ESTHCouns about the planned launch on 
 December 17 of a sounding rocket by the Ministry of Defense's 
 research agency, CITEFA.  He noted that he had received an 
 invitation from CITEFA to attend the launch, which erroneously 
 touted it as part of the SLV program.  Varotto said he had written 
 to CITEFA to protest this characterization and to decline to attend 
 the launch.  He explained that CONAE had only requested from CITEFA 
 that it allow CONAE to fit test guidance equipment atop the 
 sounding rocket in order to test the equipment at high altitude, 
 nothing more.  By no means is CONAE cooperating with CITEFA on the 
 SLV development, he stressed. 
  
  
  
 ¶4. (C) Varotto was worried about what could be perceived as a 
 ""militarization"" of CONAE's purely civilian SLV development 
 program.  He reiterated his complete commitment to transparency and 
 wanted to ensure that Washington was informed.  He believed that 
 CITEFA had misunderstood the extent of its cooperation with CONAE. 
 ""We have no written agreement to cooperate with CITEFA on the space 
 launch vehicle,"" Varotto said, ""and it makes no sense for us to do 
 so.""  He explained that the SLV is designed as a liquid fuel 
 launcher, while CITEFA only handles solid fuel rockets. 
  
  
  
 ¶5. (C) Asking for confidentiality, Varotto then shared a ""serious"" 
 issue he believed could affect CONAE's SLV program.  He said that 
 French military equipment manufacturer Dassault had contacted 
 Fabricaciones Militares (a state company under Planning Minister De 
 Vido) to explore the possibility of refurbishing old Argentine 
 military solid fuel short-range (30-40 km) rockets, for subsequent 
 sales to the region.  Officials from Fabricaciones Militares had 
 visited CONAE's space center in Cordoba, where the SLV is being 
 developed.  Varotto said he later found out that the reason for the 
 visit was that the Ministry of Planning was considering the use of 
 some of CONAE's facilities and machinery for the fabrication of 
 solid-fuel rockets.  Varotto said he immediately contacted Foreign 
 Minister Taiana (the titular head of Argentina's space program) to 
 state unequivocally that CONAE was totally opposed to any military 
 use of its facilities.  ""This would mean the end of the Argentine 
 SLV program,"" he stressed, ""and someone would have to take 
 responsibility for this."" 
  
  
  
 ¶6. (C) While Dassault appears in the end to have decided to 
 negotiate with the Brazilians rather than the Argentines, Varotto 
 said that Fabricaciones Militares is now considering moving forward 
 with its own project of manufacturing rockets for the use of the 
 Argentine military and for regional military sales.  He said that 
 Planning Minister Julio De Vido is pushing this idea to completely 
 retool CONAE's space center to manufacture military rockets.  The 
 situation has now escalated into a confrontation between FM Taiana 
 against Planning Minister DeVido and Defense Minister Nilda Garre, 
  
  
 Varotto said.  He added that he had asked FM Taiana to make a 
 personal appeal to the President.  ""It is an existential question 
 for us,"" he said, ""and that is why I am appealing to the 
 President.""  Varotto was adamant that ""to share our civilian space 
 center with military fabrication means the end of our SLV program."" 
 He stressed that CONAE is totally opposed to having the two 
 projects cohabitate within the same center.  Moreover, he said, the 
 space center is entirely focused on the development of liquid fuel 
 boosters and is simply not tooled for large-scale fabrication of 
 solid fuel rockets. 
  
  
  
 ¶7. (C) Comment:  Varotto was clearly worried about damage to his 
 credibility, and he insisted that his unwavering commitment to full 
 transparency be relayed to Washington.  Argentina's space program 
 involves much more than the SLV project, as CONAE has for many 
 years pursued very productive cooperation with NASA on the design 
 and building of satellites (the latest one, SAC-D, to be launched 
 from California at the end of 2010.)  Varotto does not want rumors 
 and a possible military use of his space center to jeopardize space 
 cooperation with the United States.  In the end, he trusts that CFK 
 will maintain the long-standing civilian focus of space research 
 and let CONAE retain exclusive use of its space center in Cordoba. 
 End Comment. 
 MARTINEZ