President Evo Morales signed a decree creating the Bolivian Space Agency at a cabinet meeting Feb. 10, with a mission of building and launching a satellite with Chinese help. The third-generation DFH-4 satellite is to named after Túpac Katari, an Aymara indigenous leader who fought the Spanish before being martyred in 1781. Public Works Minister Walter Delgadillo told a press conference the government will initially invest $1 million in the program, and expects China to meet the rest of the projected $300 million budget. He said Chinese technicians have arrived in the country to direct the program. Construction of the satellite is to begin in March. (The Guardian, Feb. 12; AP, Feb. 10)
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