This article is adapted from AQ’s special report
MEXICO CITY—The Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE) held its first general assembly in Mexico in February, marking the transition of a five-year-old diplomatic ambition into an operational institution. Of the 18 countries that signed the agency’s founding convention in 2021, only 11 ratified it. The challenge ahead is making it matter.
Since its inception, the agency has attracted expressions of cooperation from the European Space Agency (ESA) and China’s National Space Administration (CNSA). Spain’s and Italy’s space agencies have followed suit, while South Korea’s Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) was designated as its permanent technical advisor.
But alongside expressions of international support, the case for internal concern is equally real. ALCE has yet to publicly disclose how much its member states contribute or what its operational budget is, and the institution needs to align the aspirations of many national agencies with limited resources. Mexico, the agency’s loudest advocate, slashed its 2026 budget by over a third, to around $2.6 million, making it one of the world’s most underfunded such agencies. A constitutional reform that would give the space sector a robust legal framework and attract private investment remains stalled in the Senate.
Besides these concerns, geopolitics cast doubt on ALCE’s future. Brazil, the region’s most advanced space power, never joined the agency, a decision compounded by its temporary withdrawal from CELAC, the regional body under which ALCE was established. Argentina, one of the agency’s early promoters and cofounders, signed the founding convention but never ratified it after the Milei government pivoted away from regional multilateralism.
“It is disheartening that, despite sharing a common language, cultural traits, and a shared geographical area, we are unable to establish cooperation for the common good,” Valeria Ramos Barba, a consultant on space law and policy based in Tokyo, told AQ.
Until now, the priorities ALCE has outlined—environmental monitoring, disaster risk management, food security, and digital connectivity—address real and urgent regional needs. The question remains whether the agency will be able to deliver on its lofty ambitions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cyntia Barrera Díaz
Reading Time: 2 minutesBarrera Díaz is a bilingual editor and journalist. She covered corporate and financial news across the U.S. and Latin America for Reuters and later served as a Spanish-language team leader and breaking news editor at Bloomberg.
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